Chasing Shadows
by MelodiousNocturneGirl
Summary: You looked up at Demyx, who didn't look back. He stared into space not anger, sorrow, or happiness shown on his face. You looked ahead, those four words staying in your mind, and were repeated constantly. "Stay away from her." LOVE TRIANGLE!
1. Needing a Hero

Melo (my nickname): Hello everyone! Tis me again! I'm writing another character/reader story. This one is with a certain organization XIII member. (Hears tons of fangirls scream) Please review!

Roses are Red, Violets are blue

As much as I love the organization I don't own so please don't sue

~*~*~*~*~

**A Nobodies Lullaby**

"You know (your name) if you like this guy so much, why don't you just tell him."

You were walking through Twilight Town, in a lonely dark alley, with one of your best friends. For a couple of months now, you had seen a young boy, maybe around 16-18, around the town and in your eyes he was absolutely gorgeous. He hung out with some other people that looked his age, but they never really noticed anyone in the town. You wanted to talk to him, if only just once, but he was always apart of the trio, you never saw him alone.

You sighed at your friend, "I would but I don't even know him! He doesn't ever hang around anyone but his little gang and to top it off, he doesn't even notice that I'm there!"

You couldn't really name the emotion you were feeling right now. You were angry, sad, frustrated, depressed, and jealous all at the same time. You wanted to be apart of that crowd and you never would. For some reason, you felt it was impossible to be apart of his life.

Your friend, now frustrated with you, almost yelled, "When have you ever been afraid to talk to people? If he's your special _someone _then why don't you just talk?!"

You glared at them, "Well excuse me for having trouble all of a sudden! I mean, if this was YOUR special _someone _you would be having a panic attack by now!!"

One thing was for sure, you'd been talking about this guy as your special someone for some time now and your friend always listened. Why they were being aggressive all of a sudden wasn't your fault at all. Or so you kept telling yourself.

For a second you thought they were going to slap you, "Fine! I give up! If you don't want my advice than just deal with your little problem alone!" They ran up ahead of you, "And you can just find your own way home!!"

They disappeared and you panicked, "Wait!! I'm still not used to the alley! I'll get lost! Come back!"

It was too late. They were gone.

_Oh crap…_you thought to yourself. _Now I'm in an alley, in a place I hardly know how to get around, and I'm alone. Could things possible get any worse?_

Trash cans toppled over behind you. You swiftly turned around and saw nothing. The old saying, _Things could always be worse, _played in your head. You heard a meow and a tail flicker in a street light.

You sighed, trying to calm your heart, "It's only a cat." Turning back around you looked in the direction your friend ran off, "Let's see…. If I take a right after going straight ahead for a while, I should be back by the shop…. Shouldn't I?"

You walked down the wet and dirty alley, trying to make as least noise as possible. You could only hear the splatter of water your feet made as you stepped in puddle after puddle.

"How did all this water get here? It hasn't rained in a couple of days?" You spoke to yourself, "Or is this just how the alley is?"

You made your right turn and walked a couple of steps. Dead end. You pulled at some of your hairs, "Oh c'mon! I could've sworn this was the way home!"

There were splashes of water behind you and quick movements. You spun around to see nothing again. Your heart pounding in your chest you tried to just shake it off, "Cats… it's only cats (your name). Relax. You're being paranoid."

Yellow eyes flickered and you flinched. Was it one of those heartless the townspeople had warned you about? No, it's just a cat. Yeah, it's a cat. No it isn't! You're going to die! This is it! Stop being paranoid! You are not dying!

You began to mentally fight with yourself, comments and decisions flying through your mind. More eyes began to fill the area, some of them even rising from the ground. You took a step back, eyes full of terror. You were paralyzed! You couldn't move and your body just wouldn't listen.

"Some…somebody….help…" You managed to squeak forth. You saw little black bodies and claws come towards you slowly.

You were backed up against the wall, "Somebody. Help me."

They kept coming forward, now at a faster pace seeing that you couldn't get away.

"Somebody! Help me!!" You yelled.

They were jumping at you and you dodged a couple of them as they were grabbing at your chest, trying to attack your heart. You pushed some of them off and got a couple of steps away before tripping again, some blood trickling down and out of your mouth. You crawled a couple of inches before they jumped you again. This time you couldn't get them off.

"SOMEBODY!!! ANYBODY!!! HELP ME!!!!!!!" Tears came pouring down your cheeks. You looked down at the water on the cement and thought that that was where the water had come from. Poor souls such as you had gotten lost in here and these beasts had gotten a hold of them. This wasn't rain water; it was tears of those you were lost to these monsters.

You couldn't scream anymore, nor could you struggle. This was it, this was the end. You pulled your hands up to your chest and covered your heart, trying to protect it. The claws of the heartless scratched at your hands trying to remove them, but you wouldn't budge.

"Somebody… Help me…" Were all the words you could muster.

You were about to give up when you heard the pitter patter of boots running towards you. Barely able to look up, you caught a glimpse of black cloaks. You heard screaming and shouting and screeches. The weight of the heartless vanished, but still, you had no energy. This was the end… and that boy… you would never meet him.

*~*~*~*~*

-Unknown Place-

You awoke with a start. All you could see was white, everything glistened and shined. You blinked a couple of times. Was this heaven? It certainly looked like it, all white and shiny. But where were the angels? The trumpets? Heck, where were the clouds?

You sat up, once again, in a white bed, with white sheets. Looking around, you saw that you were alone. You looked behind you in case there was a picture or something to tell where you were. There was nothing. You sighed and was about to lay your head back down when you saw a symbol on the pillow. A lone black symbol that was odd shaped. You couldn't describe it.

Again you sighed and lay down with your arms behind you head. Maybe God just wasn't interested in you at the moment and this was like a personal waiting room. You were pretty sure you were dead.

Just then, the door opened. You sat up pretzel style and your heart almost jumped out of your chest, screamed, and died. Instead of an angel a being in a long black cloak and hood over their head walked towards you. This wasn't heaven it was hell!! You tried to scoot away, but you were backed up against a wall. Didn't this happen before your death? Why'd it have to happen again?

"Please, just if I'm going to die can't I die peacefully? Or be dead peacefully?"

The cloaked figure cocked its head to the side, "Dead?" He sounded young, too young to be the Grim Reaper, "You're not dead."

Your face portrayed shock, "I'm not?"

The figure shook his head, "Nope!"

"Oh…" Was all you could say. Then it dawned on you, "Wait… if you're not the Grim Reaper, then who are you?"

The figure laughed, "I'm definitely not the Grim Reaper. They say I'm way too nice!"

"They…?" You asked quietly. So there were more of them?

The figure removed his hood. You felt yourself go beat red, your heart suddenly was alive again and pounding in your chest, and your eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. It was HIM! That boy! But, what was he doing here? Not like it mattered now. You were alone….with HIM! You were pretty sure about then when you realized the situation, you went from red to pale white.

"I…I think I'm going to faint." You fell over off the bed.

He jumped up and caught you, "Whoa! H-Hey you ok?"

You looked into his eyes, those beautiful sea-green eyes. You were mesmerized by his looks.

You'd been staring for too long, "I-I'm sorry. I'm ok; just I'm lost and confused."

He helped you back up on the bed, "Its ok. I'm kinda like your care-giver for now. If it wasn't for Axel, Roxas and me, you probably would be a dusk." He laughed again.

Now you were definitely confused. Axel? Roxas? A dusk? What was he talking about?

He looked at your confused expression, "Oh, sorry. I forgot, you don't really know anyone here, and you probably don't know what a dusk is either?"

You shook your head no.

He smiled, "Well, that's ok. You probably will only know me for a while, maybe Axel and Roxas will pop their heads in here every once in a while. But you have to promise me something."

You blinked, "Um… ok…?"

He leaned in, you could feel his breath on your skin and his smile had dissolved and become a serious frown, "You can't leave this room. I'll get in serious trouble if anyone else finds you here and you definitely don't want them finding you. So, I'll give you a heads up if it's me. Ok?"

You nodded, "Ok."

His smile was back, "Alright!"

He held out his hand for yours, "So stranger, what's your name?"

You took it, "It's (your name)."

He smiled, "(Your name). I like it! It has a ring to it!"

"And yours?" You asked, trying to sound polite.

"Me?" His smile grew, "My name is Demyx."

~*~*~*~*~

**Tbc…**

*~*~*~*~*

MelodiousNocturneGirl: End of Chapter 1! I know it was kind of forward at the beginning, running into Demyx and all, but believe me, I've already written most of it (right now I'm just tweaking) and it works! It won't seem as forward, I promise you!


	2. Introductions and Trouble

Melo: OK, I changed the name of the story (obviously). So yeah, chapter two up!

*~*~*~*~*

**Introductions and Trouble**

_Demyx _you thought _what a peculiar name?_

"Is something the matter?" His angelic voice rang through your head.

You blinked a couple of times. You found yourself staring straight at him (again). You shook your head, "No, it's just….it's….umm…"

He chuckled to himself, "It's an odd name, I know." He stretched, "But, I've grown used to it."

The way he said it, it felt like he hadn't had the name long at all; like as if he were a small child just learning that that was his name. He smiled at you, "Well, you seem like you're new to the town. I don't really know a lot about you, you don't know a lot about me, so how about a game of twenty questions?"

You coughed a bit, "Excuse me?"

He looked at you confused, "You don't know what twenty questions is?"

You shook your head again, "No no no. It's not that, it's just I didn't think you'd ask that."

He laughed again. He practically jumped on your bed and sat pretzel style facing you, "Well, like I said, we'll probably only know each other for a little while, so we might as well chat while you're here. Nothing else to do I'm afraid."

He grinned like a nine year old kid that just caught the biggest catfish in the lake with his dad. You couldn't resist him! He was not only, cute, hot, sexy, and smexy, he was just plain adorable!

He laughed and smiled back. He gasped, and now you went from happy face to a confused one.

He laughed louder, "I made you smile and laugh on top of that! You've seemed pretty gloomy this entire time."

You looked around the room and then sighed, "I'm just lost. I have no idea where I am, meaning I don't know this building and I don't know what town I'm in."

Demyx shrugged, "Don't worry about it. You'll be back home in no time, I've just gotta make sure no one else sees you, remember?" He winked at you as if to say _"Don't worry, we're not kidnapping you. You'll be ok."_

You nodded your head, "So, who starts this game?"

"I will!" He announced proudly.

You laughed again, "Alright, shoot!"

He looked thoughtful for a moment, tapping his chin with one of his fingers, "Ah!" He exclaimed and raised his finger in the air, "I've got it!"

You rolled your eyes, "Alright, let's hear it."

"Where are you from?"

You blinked at him, "I'm not sure."

He didn't laugh, but his face wasn't serious either, "Oh c'mon! You're telling me that you have no idea where you are from?"

You nodded.

This time he laughed, "Well that makes two of us."

"Wait…what?"

He shook his head and smiled at you, "I don't know where I'm from either. All I remember is when Xemnas found me and that's it."

"Xemnas?"

He flinched, "It's nobody (biggest pun ever!!)."

You smirked, "Ok, well it's my turn right?"

He nodded, "Yup!"

"Ok," your smirk got bigger and he stared at you worried about your question, "Who's this Xenmas?"

"Xemnas." He corrected.

You shrugged, "Ok, Xemnas. Who is he?"

Demyx looked away, "Question skipped, my turn."

"Hey, that's not fair!" You protested.

"My turn." He said more firmly.

"What happened to twenty questions?"

He looked at you, his eyes firm, harsh, scary, and dark, "I'm not answering that question. Now you can either ask another one or you can have your turn skipped. You're choice."

He scared you a bit, but you just nodded, "I'll ask something else."

He nodded, not looking at you anymore.

You had to think, scared you'd make the young man even angrier, "Ok, well then where am I?"

He sighed, "Do you have to ask the hardest of questions?"

You shrugged, "Sorry, but don't you think I have the right to know where I am?"

Again, Demyx sighed, "Alright," He finally looked up at you, "I'll tell you where you are."

Although you didn't show it, you were smiling on the inside. He was talking about something he obviously didn't want to, but above all he was sharing it with a total stranger such as you.

"You are in a castle."

Silence.

"That's it?"

He smirked, "That's it."

You glared at him, "Now hold up! I asked where I was and you—

He interrupted you, "And I told you where you were." You were silent. He was crafty, something that you didn't see in his first impression, "You didn't ask for the name of the place, nor did you ask for any information about it. You just asked where you were."

Before you could say anything, he continued, "So, I believe it is now my turn."

You growled, but let him play his game. Some way you would get back at him.

"What's your darkest secret?"

You nearly jumped out of your skin, "WHAT?!"

He nodded his head, "You heard me. What's your darkest secret?"

You shook your head, "I'm not telling you that."

"Aw, c'mon!" He whined, "Why not?"

"You're a total stranger, why would I tell you that?"

"I can't use it against you."

You snorted and stared at him.

He let his lower lip protrude and he gave you the biggest puppy eyes you'd ever seen, "Pwease!"

You had to look away from him. Great, to top it off, he could be irresistible. Was there nothing this guy couldn't do?

Before you could succumb to that face, the door slammed open. Demyx jumped at you, whispered duck, jumped into bed and pushed you down your head at his stomach. He pulled the covers over the both of you and whispered don't move.

"Hey Demyx! Whatcha doin' in here buddy?"

You could feel him pretending to be asleep. You heard footsteps and could see the shadow of someone entering the room, "Dude!"

You felt Demyx's body get nudged, and you heard him grunt.

"Dude! Demyx!"

You heard Demyx mumble, "Whaddya wan Xigbar?"

He was nudged again, this time it was his legs getting hit; you decided to move up slowly, your head on his chest.

"You sleeping?" the so called Xigbar answered.

"Yesh…" Demyx answered, "Go 'way."

You ear was on his chest, but something was unnatural. You couldn't hear anything besides their conversation. You couldn't really think what was missing at the moment; you were too scared out of your wits. You were in a bed with your dream guy in a strange place that you didn't know about besides that it was a castle. You couldn't be discovered. This was like something out of a fairy tale.

"Alright, alright I'm leaving. You happy?" You heard the footsteps leave and then a door shut. You moved to get out, but Demyx wouldn't let you out. You moved again and this time he kicked you. Your "ouch" was covered by the fact that your mouth was pressed against his chest. Now you were just agitated. You weren't sure whether there was danger in the room or if he was really a big pervert underneath but whatever it was you wanted out.

You grunted and he shh'd you. Now it was just plain suspense about what was going on. He wouldn't talk or nothing. You sighed and laid your head back on his chest and he tried backing away from you. For a second you thought he was going to let you out and decided to uncover yourself but he kicked you again and shoved you back down. You wanted to bite him, but you were sure through the thick leather of his outfit that you wouldn't get to far.

"Let me go." You mumbled.

He shh'd you again, "Hold your horses; I can still hear them at the door. They're just talking, but still if they hear you, we're in trouble."

You struggled again, "Can't I have some air?"

"Just wait a minute."

You sighed and started to get comfortable since you felt you'd be here for a while. You rested your head on his chest for the third time. _This is far too awkward for my taste, but I can't say I'm not enjoying this. _You thought to yourself.

You tapped your fingers to the beat of _Forever by Chris Brown_ on his stomach. Each tap you pounded on his stomach he twitched. _Ah, ticklish aren't we? _You thought, _That's something I can use to my advantage._

It then clicked. You weren't hearing anything. There was something you should've heard while you were laying on his chest. Where was his heartbeat? You moved your head around his chest searching for it. Nothing. _What the heck? _You thought, w_hy doesn't he have a heartbeat? _

"Demyx…why don't you…?"

Before you could finish you were pulled up. Your face was only inches from his. You closed your eyes feeling that his face would show pure anger.

"Open your eyes, please."

You opened them, he was smiling. You had just discovered something and he wasn't scared. Was this his dark secret?

"Welcome back to the living." He laughed.

You smiled, "Thanks."

He pushed you out of bed and jumped out of it himself, "Sorry if it was hard to breathe, I couldn't let you be seen. You did a pretty good job at blending in though."

You got to your feet and brushed yourself off, "Thanks…I think."

He clapped his hands and pulled his hood over his face, "You ready to go?"

"Go? Go where?" You asked.

He shook his head and you could hear his chuckle, "Home of course! I gotta get you home."

He pulled a weird looking instrument out from the covers. You inwardly gasped. That instrument wasn't there a second ago.

"Wait!" You shouted.

He looked at you, you couldn't see his eyes, but with that hood facing you, you knew he was paying attention.

"Will we get to hang out again some time?"

He sighed, "I shouldn't."

Your heart sank. This was the guy, why couldn't the two of you hang out?

"But," Your heart jumped up again and you stared at him hopefully, "I will anyway. You're a really nice gal." He moved towards you, "Now just hold still and close your eyes."

You were eager for a kiss, but doubted that you'd get one. Music filled the air and you felt like the world was spinning slowly and carefully.

You felt something small and wet touch your skin.

You heard a sweet angelic voice whisper in your ears.

"Goodnight, dear heart."

~*~*~*~*~

**TBC...**


	3. Beyond the Grave Demyx's POV

**Melo: **This chapter is in Demyx's P.O.V. after you've left. So yeah, I know that it's not in your P.O.V. but the next chapter will be, I promise.

**Beyond the Grave**

**(Demyx's P.O.V.)**

I sighed. How could this have happened? This was totally getting out of hand and it just started! How could one girl do this? I guess this is just part of my stupid, normal self… bringing a somebody here… what was I thinking?? She could've gotten hurt, or killed, or worse…turned into a dusk.

Sighing once more, I sat up from the bed that she once laid on. She was gorgeous, angelic even and here I was, the beast in the night, stalking her, wanting her. But I can't reveal my feelings….I don't even really have feelings. They're fake like the carbon copy I am. But what am I supposed to do? If this really is a feeling…a feeling from a heart…does that mean I still have one?

I placed my hand on my chest, begging for a heartbeat to be there. Alas, nothing. I sighed and withdrew my hand, wanting to cry, wanting to scream. Is it really this simple to fall in love? I've been here for I don't know how many years… and to top it off, I've never sensed so much energy coming from a human. Maybe it is that thing called "love". Vexen has stated I don't know how many times that we cannot have feelings, and apparently it was scientifically proven, but hey, scientists have been wrong before.

Sitting up from the bed I scratched the back of my head. This was far to confusing for me. Before I could grab my sitar and head for the beach, which is what I do if I'm feeling confused or left out or something, there was a knock at the door. If I had a heart, I know it would've skipped a beat or stopped. My first thought was that the superior had found out and I was done for. To my relief though, it was just Axel and Roxas. Both were dressed in a t-shirt and jeans with grins on their faces.

"Demyx, where do you think you're going??" Axel practically shouted for the whole castle to hear. I knew what they wanted. They wanted me to go to _that _town with them. Which, of course I really wanted to. I could see my angel again. But, it would be too risky.

Axel play-punched me in the arm and his grin became a beam, "C'mon dude, let's go! The town is waiting!!"

I shrugged, "No thanks, Axel. I'd rather be alone right now."

Axel gave me that confused puppy dog look, "But why?! You love going to the town! Did Xemnas or somebody say something to you?"

Again, I shrugged, "No, nobody said anything. I just don't feel like going."

Roxas, who was currently eating sea-salt ice cream, looked at me funny, "Is it because that girl hasn't said anything to you yet?"

I froze. _That girl?_ She was just a girl, she was _the _girl! And to top it off, she was here, in this castle, with me!

Axel grinned again, "I think you hit the nail on the head Roxy old pal."

I could see Roxas scowl, "Don't call me Roxy."

Axel laughed, "Well whatever. Go ahead and do what you want Demyx. But you'll be missing out on all of the fun!"

They left. Thank goodness. It was driving me insane not to be alone. I wanted to just leave for a week and never see anything but the wide open space of the deep blue sea. To swim around with the merpeople, because that was always fun. They accepted me. So why should I care about some two-legged female somebody? Why should I? Well…that's probably because…whether I liked it or not, I was in love. Nothing was going to stop that and I was going to prove to the rest of the nobodies…that we do have emotions and that we do exist, that we're not a mistake. I was going to prove this…I was going to win her heart…if only I could find mine.

-Demyx


	4. Questions in Need of Answers

**Chapter Update!!!**

**Questions in Need of Answers**

"(Your name)!"

You grunted as you were nudged.

"(Your name)! Wake up!"

You opened your eyes to see your "friend". Gently and slowly you got up and faced them. They were angry, you could tell.

"Where have you been?! I was worried sick about you!!"

You got up, still unsure of how you got to where you were, confusion controlling your thoughts and feelings. But then anger controlled you. You glared at them, "**You **were worried sick? Bull!"

They glared right back at you, "Yes, I was!"

You crossed your arms over your chest and then rolled your eyes, "Oh sure you were."

Your 'friend' gritted their teeth, "Yes, I was."

You snorted and gave them a smirk, "If you were so worried then why the hell did you leave me all alone in a place I didn't know? Hmm? Why'd you leave me to die if you were so worried?!"

They didn't respond.

You rolled your eyes again letting your arms lay by your side, "Figures."

You turned around and walked off, letting them call after you all they wanted. You weren't going to respond. They used you, like you were a toy. That aggravated you more than anything. You were halfway to your house when it dawned on you. If it weren't for that person, you wouldn't have met Demyx. Demyx; he was a beautiful, he was graceful, he was kind, he was amazing, and he smelt amazingly good.

"Demyx… Where are you?" You whispered.

You sighed, maybe he was right.

-Flashback-

_He smiled, "Well, that's ok. You probably will only know me for a while, maybe Axel and Roxas will pop their heads in here every once in a while. But you have to promise me something."_

-End Flashback-

"Demyx…who are you?" you asked yourself again. Then you shook your head. It didn't matter. You weren't going to see him again; he even said it probably wouldn't happen. But, that was a _probably _right? That means that there was a slight possibility that you would meet again. But what was the possibility? Slim to none more or likely.

You sighed, thinking this day couldn't get anymore depressing than it already was and then came the rain. You stopped in your tracks and stared up into the dark clouded sky.

"Oh you have _got _to be kidding me?!" You screamed.

You ran for your house that was a good two miles away. You cursed the fact that you lived so far from the town and that you didn't have your own car at the moment. The rain, at first, was just sprinkling, but everyone knows that rain hardly ever stays that way in Twilight Town. The rain started pounding the ground like small rocks. You were being pelted and there was no way you were going to make it home without being soaked to the bone.

You looked around for a place to stay until the rain let down. All the stores were closed at this late of hour so you couldn't go there. You could probably sit under one of the outside restaurant seats with the umbrellas over them. Hey, it was the only place left, so you practically jumped for it.

You reached a seafood restaurant just in time because the rain started to pour harder just as you made yourself comfortable sitting on a dry table underneath a blue and white umbrella. You could hardly see through the rain but you could tell you were the only outside at this time. You were alone, not exactly scared, but very annoyed.

You reached for your back pocket for your cell phone. It was a black razor with and shark sticker on the front and a dragon on the back, your two favorite creatures. Before flipping it open you noticed your hand was shaking like no tomorrow. You didn't think you were that cold but judging by the color of your fingernails, you were freezing. You shook your head and opened your phone anyway. Dead.

You sighed and leaned your head back to look at the umbrella. Then you looked around at the surrounding area, it didn't look like the rain was ever going to let up.

"Great. Just great." You told yourself, "I'll be sitting here for hours probably."

The rain continued to pour in response.

You growled and then shouted at the top of your lungs, "I HATE THE RAIN!!!"

"Why? What's the rain ever done to you?"

You screamed and turned around. You saw a guy dressed in all black.

"_No way…" _you thought.

"What…? Demyx? Is that you?" You asked.

"Huh?" He removed his hood and gazed at you, "Hey, you're (your name)! I didn't think I'd ever see you again. What kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into now?" He asked.

You glared, "I'm **not **in trouble. I'm just stuck."

He cocked his head, "You're stuck? How are you stuck?"

You held out your hand to all the rain that was pelting the ground, "The rain?"

"What's wrong with it?" He asked curiously as if oblivious that he himself was getting wet.

You shook your head and gaped at him, "Its pouring! I live way out on the other side of this stupid town! I'm cold and I'm wet and I-

He interrupted you, "What's wrong with being wet? I like water."

You glared at him, "Well I don't."

He laughed, "If you don't like water you won't like me. I'm practically water."

"What do you mean? You're not water."

He smirked, "Yes I am and so are you. The human body is made up of mostly water."

You rolled your eyes, "Whatever."

He sat beside you, "Mind if I join you?"

You laughed, "And here I thought you loved the water."

He nodded, "I do, but right now you're freezing." He wrapped his arms around you and pulled you close to him.

You struggled; although you liked him you couldn't help but be a bit uncomfortable, "What are you doing?"

"I'm giving you some body heat. You said you were cold, after all."

You gave him a skeptical look, "But you're also wet. So how is this going to help? Hmm?"

He laughed, "Do you have to make everything so difficult? Seriously, just go with my plan every once in a while."

You stayed quiet and just let him hold you. No more complaining. _"Enjoy this moment while it lasts" _you told yourself. You sighed and rested your head on his shoulder comfortably. You both watched the rain in silence. He started humming something but you couldn't hear it over the rain, he even swayed back and forth a little.

Then he sighed, "I shouldn't be here."

You looked up at him, waiting for him to go on.

He continued, "I shouldn't be here for sure. This is outrageous. I should've just let you sit here by yourself."

You shrugged, "Well, then I probably would've froze to death."

"Not likely." He said with no humor.

You didn't look away from his eyes, "Does this have to do with what you told me? When you said that I'd probably only know you for a little while?"

He nodded, "Mm-hmm."

You sat up, "What does that mean then?"

Demyx finally looked at you, "It means that me being here, around you, puts you in danger."

"What do you mean danger?"

He got up and walked into the rain, "I'm sorry, but I'm not allowed to answer that question." He continued to walk in the rain.

You got up to walk after him but stopped as soon as the rain touched your skin. It was like needles. You shouted, "Demyx! Wait!"

He stopped and looked over his shoulder and you could hear his voice clearly as if the rain had lost its sound, "The rain will let up in a few minutes. I suggest you get home, it's the on your right past this restaurant." He looked back in front of him and walked off. The rain regained its sound and he disappeared.

"Demyx?" You cried, "Demyx!! Don't leave me here! Demyx!!"

Nothing. No response. It was almost as if he was never there. You sighed and was about to chase after him when the rain stopped. You looked up, it was barely even sprinkling. He was right, it was going to stop. You looked to the right and again Demyx was correct. Your house was right there. But you thought you lived farther than that. How did he even know where you lived?

"(Your name)!"

You turned around to see a woman with short brown hair calling out to you. It was your mother. She was running towards you like a cheetah, fast and jumping over the restaurant fences, tables, and chairs.

"Mom!" You shouted and got up to greet her.

You embraced each other in a tight hug and then she pulled away and cupped your face, "Are you ok? You're not hurt are you? Where have you been? Oh my goodness you're soaking wet! We're going to have to get you into some dry clothes before you die of hypothermia. You're ok right? No men touched you or anything? Nobody hurt you?"

You couldn't even answer her before she was dragging you to the house where you father was standing with the door open.

"(Your name), you're ok?" He asked, "We've been worried about you."

"I'm sorry." You responded, "I was lost and scared. But I'm ok now."

He nodded and you walked up to your room, "I'll be upstairs if you need me."

Your mother was about to object and then your dad put his hand on her shoulder, "(your name) needs some time to think. It's obvious she's tired and that she's soaking wet and cold." He looked at you, "Why don't you go ahead and take a shower or a hot bath or something. It'll help."

You nodded, "I think I'll do that."

~*~*~*~*~

You laid some dry clothes on the table top in the bathroom and spread a towel on the tile floor of the bathroom so you didn't get any water on the floor. You stripped off your wet clothes quickly because wearing those clothes was only making you colder. You looked at yourself in the mirror. No bruises or scars, surprisingly from the incident with those strange black things. You shrugged and turned on the hot water and stepped into the bathtub. Pulling the shower curtains to hide yourself and turning the shower on you tried to relax your body. The hot water hit your body, at first burning but then it felt extremely great. The coldness was drained from your body and you felt like you were under a nice warm blanket. But then, you thought of the water. Water. It reminded you of Demyx. He said he was water. But how could that be? Of course then he explained that he meant that everyone is made up of water, but for some reason you couldn't put what he said aside. You knew deep down that there was another meaning to it. You knew that he wasn't really talking about the human body.

You sighed and rested your head against the tile-like wall of the bathtub. Something wasn't right. There were so many questions you had that weren't answered. You feared they wouldn't be answered but somehow you knew they had to be. You felt like you were getting mixed up in something huge, something that nobody else would understand.

You weren't far from wrong…

You were getting mixed up in something huge…

However…

You didn't know how huge, this thing was…

And it meant danger…

**TBC…**

**Next chapter: The Flurry of Dancing Flames**


	5. The Flurry of Dancing Flames

**The Flurry of Dancing Flames**

You jumped out of your chair as the final bell rang, signaling that school had ended. You were the first to turn in the assignment to the basket that the teacher had out for work and you were also the first one out the door. School was a major pain, but it hadn't always been that way. The reason, simple, everyone and their mother knew about your "disappearance" and they were all staring.

As you were heading towards the parking lot, two girls were staring your way and pointing. You sighed, that was definitely one of your pet peeves.

"I heard that (your name) ran away with a boy." One girl spoke.

The other snorted, "They're probably pregnant."

Your face went red. (A/N: Just so you know, you had a rep. as a person that took crap from no one, even though you were new to the school.). You walked over to the two girls and they cowered a bit.

"You know, it's a fairly smart thing to only open your yap when you know what you're talking about." You glared at them; fire sparks could be seen in your eyes.

Both the girls yelped a bit and scurried away. You sighed, "Just great…that's all I need is rumors to start spreading around."

You strutted to your car, a Honda by the way, and all but tore the door off when getting in. You threw your backpack in the back seat and slammed the door shut once you were comfortable, resting your head on the steering wheel. _I can't believe this is happening, _you repeated over and over again into your head.

Finally you sat up straight and pulled your keys out of your pocket and turned the car on. It was time to get out of here. You pulled out of the school parking lot and proceeded driving home.

"You know, you're not very cautious are you?"

You slammed on your breaks and looked in the mirror and gasped, close to screaming. A bright red haired young man was sitting in your back seat and looked terribly comfy. He flashed you a pair of white pearls.

"Who…Who are you?? How did you get in my car without me noticing??"

His grin got bigger, but it wasn't friendly like, it was more devious, "Name's Axel. A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?"

"Sure, whatever floats your boat. Now how the heck did you get in my car?"

His laughed, "Probably the same way my companion Demyx came into your life; a flash and a poof."

You pulled the car into a gas station and parked away from everyone else, "What did you just say?"

He smirked, "I believe you heard me." He leaned forward and came pretty close to your face, "I'm sure you want to know how I know about you and Demyx, huh, sweetheart?"

You glared, "Don't call me sweetheart."

He chuckled and shook his head, "Sorry doll, didn't mean to turn you into a tiger on me."

You snorted, "Axel… I've heard that name before."

"Demyx probably mention me." The red head spoke, "Anyway, why don't you drive on home, I'll just say I'm a friend of yours coming to hang out and my good buddies place."

You gave him a quick smirk, "Heh... I don't think so." He raised an eyebrow at your statement, "How about we go to a fast food restaurant really quickly. I have some questions for you."

Axel shrugged and got comfy with the back seat of the Honda again, "Sure why not. I don't know if I'm the right guy to answer those questions but, hey, if the food's free why not?" He grinned again.

You shook your head and growled, "Fine. But you have to answer those questions truthfully. I'm not letting you leave without answering any of them."

He laughed, "That's fine, princess. But I'm sure whatever those questions are and whatever answer I have to give, you aren't going to be too happy with. I can tell."

"Whatever." You answered.

08080808080808080808

-At the restaurant-

You slurped down the rest of your drink and stared at Axel. The guy was practically turning you into a broke hobo. He sat back in the chair watching people walk by as if he didn't have a care in the world. You both had mostly eaten in silence, except for the few comments he made about you.

You put the cup down and cleared your throat. Now was the time to ask questions. Axel looked at you and let the chair fall to the floor. He played with the straw while staring at you, waiting for your first question.

You took a deep breath, "So for starters, why were you in my car?"

He shrugged, "I can't take interest in a pretty thing like you?"

You gave him a skeptical look, "You don't even know my name."

He smirked, "It's (your name), isn't it?"

You gasped, "What are you my stalker?"

He laughed out loud, causing a few people to stare, "No, it's just Demyx just talks about you a lot. Of course, not in front of the Superior or anybody else, just in front of me and Roxas."

That was your second question, "So, who's this Superior guy?"

Axel rolled his eyes, "How do you not know who the Superior is?"

"Demyx never told me. When the topic came up he just skipped my question like I was asking for the impossible."

Axel shook his head, "That sounds like Demyx alright. He's not to comfortable talking about the Organization."

"Organization?" You asked.

He nodded, "It's the 'family' we have. There are thirteen of us. Twelve guys, one girl."

You smirked, "Not much of a polygamist group, are you?"

He stuck his tongue out at you, "We're NOT a polygamist group at all. It's just a group of misfits that find it comfortable living amongst each other. By the way, back to your first question. The Superior's name is Xemnas and he's the leader of our group. Now, it's just me, but I don't think he's as powerful as he claims to be. But I haven't faced his true wrath."

You nodded, "So, why are you misfits? I mean, I feel like an outsider most of the time, but you know, I don't make an organization and then seclude myself from everybody."

He looked around cautiously. _Was that even possible that he was cautious, _you asked yourself.

Axel leaned in towards you and just before he spoke he laughed and leaned back.

You were completely confused, "What's so funny?"

He shook his head, "Nothing."

You glared, "Don't even try that. Tell me what's so funny."

He continued to laugh and then looked at you with sincere eyes, "You smell real nice. You single?"

You gasped in disgust, "Don't even think about it, Axel! I'm not yours to claim!"

He laughed, "Calm down, princess. It was a joke." He leaned in a bit again, not as far as the last time, "Anyway, the thing that makes us misfits isn't for me to tell you. I can't really tell you, but I could if I wanted."

You clinched your cup fairly roughly, almost squishing the poor thing, "Why not?!"

People began to stare again. Axel shushed you and grinned at everyone else, "Don't worry about it folks, she's just in a rather horrid mood."

You gasped, for the like fourteenth time at him, and was ready to slap him when he winked at you.

"Play along." He whispered.

You folded your arms and looked away, a small blush coming on your face, "Whatever."

He turned his attention back to you once the crowd had gone back to eating, "Now, as I was saying, I don't really have the liberty to tell you why we're misfits. That's between you and Demyx or, really, it's supposed to be between you and Xemnas."

You rolled your eyes, "Is he really all that controlling?"

He snorted, "Do you have too much wax in those ears of yours? Didn't I just I didn't think he was that powerful? You should just be thankful that Xemnas hasn't sent a dusk or something after you. You could be dead or something right now."

You snorted again, "Does it look like I'm scared?"

He grinned at you, "No, and that's what I like about you. You're more of a dare-devil and a chance taker than I thought you'd be. I wonder what you see in a guy like Demyx?"

You quickly turned to face him, "What does Demyx have to do with any of this?"

Axel rolled his eyes, "For goodness sake's, don't you listen? He's apart of the organization and he's a misfit. I was just curious. Is it his eyes, his personality, what?"

You looked away, "I don't know what you're talking about."

He laughed fairly loudly again and you blushed, "What?"

He looked at you, his eyes penetrating your strong walls, protecting your feelings that you didn't want shown, "Don't play dumb, (your name). I know full well how you really feel about Demyx. You like him and you're hoping that one day he'll notice you." He took a slurp from his drink, "Sadly, I doubt that relationship would last. There are too many secrets and too many differences."

You looked down at your lap with a tad bit disappointment. Of course you knew that there were differences between you and Demyx, but you kept hoping that deep down the relationship would work.

"But then again," Axel started and you looked up with hope, "Demyx is always full of surprises."

He looked at you and was a tad bit shocked, "I'm sorry; I've gone and said something wrong haven't I?" He leaned in towards you, close enough to kiss you. He cupped your chin with one of his hands and the other he used to remove a single tear, "I've hurt your feelings, will you forgive me?"

At first you were absolutely appalled that he would be so comfortable touching you like that and then you took another look into his eyes. They were full of sorrow and worry. Their color was a green, that transfixed you just like Demyx's had done. You were practically consumed by them.

You looked at him, "Its ok. I couldn't stay mad, really."

He smiled at you, an actually smile! Not a smirk, or a grin, just a sweet, innocent smile, "Good."

He leaned back and pulled a cell phone from his back pocket, "Crap!"

You looked up, "What is it?"

He grinned, "It's time for this misfit to go. I've got to meet up with the rest of the Organization." He got up and stretched, "Thanks for the food by the way; I'll find a way to repay you." He winked.

You blushed, "Umm, it was no problem really. I thought you'd eat a lot more."

"Naw, it's cool. It's the polite thing to do, yo." He winked again and was on his way out the door as you sat there completely amazed, "I'll catch you later, eh, dollface?"

And then he was gone.

You sat at the restaurant for a minute, sitting there in complete shock. He had indeed answered your questions, but there was one thing left. There was something about him that just sparked your inner emotions. Could you like this guy as well? You shook your head at the thought. No, it wasn't possible. You only had feelings for Demyx.

No, it couldn't be possible at all…

Could it?

**TBC…**


	6. Confusion of the Heart

Melo: I'M SO SORRY THAT I HAVEN'T UPDATED!!! I FEEL TERRIBLE! DX Well, anyway, please enjoy! Again, I'm sorry for taking so long.

**Confusion of the Heart**

After a 'chance' encounter with the now famous Axel, you sat in your bedroom totally confused and emotionally mixed up. You sat on your bed and held your pillow close to your chest. Eyes were mixed with confusion and sorrow. In your heart you had a feeling that you wouldn't be able to be with Demyx, or Axel for that matter, and that depressed you more than anything. But, couldn't that be your mind playing tricks on you? Maybe you were just being stupid and it was just confusion.

Axel's words came back to you, _"Sadly, I doubt that relationship would last. There are too many secrets and too many differences." _You blinked away the tears at the thought.

"How would you know Axel? You never even gave me and Demyx a chance." You whispered to yourself.

Your depression was turned into anger almost instantly, "Why does it have be this way?! Why can't I just have a decent and happy relationship??!!"

You threw the pillow across the room and it bounced off the wall almost gracefully. That just ticked you off even more and it you grabbed your head as if it were in searing pain.

"Why are you upset?"

You didn't turn around, "Why are you here? What's the purpose of finding me?"

"I'm sorry…did I upset you?" The voice asked.

You turned around on your bed and met the aqua-green eyes of the spiky blond haired young man, "Demyx, I already talked to Axel. So why even come? I thought you weren't supposed to be around me?"

He shrugged, "I can't help wanting to be around you." He looked away, "There's just some things I kinda wanted to talk to you about, if you don't mind."

You crossed your arms over your chest. You didn't exactly know why you were being cruel to him but you just felt like it was the right thing to do. People were just popping in and out of nowhere and confusing the ever-living heck out of you. It then surprised you that you weren't surprised that he just magically appeared in your bedroom.

He leaned towards you in earnest affection, "Please (your name), I just want to talk to you. Well, really, I just want to ask you something."

You unfolded your arm, "And what would that be?"

"I'm…" He stopped and moved away again, no longer looking at you, "I'm scared to know your reaction."

You sighed, "There's no point in getting scared. What's the worst that I could do to you? If I were going to hurt you I would've done it by now. Don't 'cha think?"

He tried smiling, but epically failed at it. It wasn't like Demyx to be like this and you knew that pretty well. Even though you've only met up with him a couple of times, you've felt that you've known the young man for years now. It's been about a month now since your first encounter. It all seems like it had happened in a week or even less.

"I might be endangering you by asking this though, I'm completely scared." He laughed, "But then again, Vexen did say we can't really feel anything. Maybe I'm not scared and I'm just faking it."

You slammed your hand on the covers of your bed, "If you're just faking it quit playing around and tell me, dammit!!"

He looked at you with those soft eyes and you automatically regretted even yelling at him. He was struggling with whatever he had to ask, it was now obvious. Your eyes betrayed you and he looked down, looking even more embarrassed now then ever.

"I'm sorry, go ahead. If you want to ask me something, just ask. Trust me. Be a little more open. You're a nice guy, you can tell me anything. You can trust me." The hand that you slammed on the bed now, like they had a mind of there own, slowly and carefully glided onto his. It was cold, almost lifeless. Your eyes reached his. His eyes were still soft and almost childlike. He was simple and beautiful. There were some complications with Demyx but you knew that it was against his will. His eyes said that he wanted to tell you everything but it seemed like there was a barrier that his heart held that wouldn't let him. His heart? Wasn't there something you wanted to ask him about that?

He swallowed and looked down in nervousness, "Well, I was w-wondering, well if you wanted to, you don't have to. I mean, I-I-I…. maybe it's not worth asking—

You stifled a laugh, "Demyx, just ask me. The worst I could say is no."

He shrugged, "Well, I can't stand rejection."

This time you laughed, "Then I can't say no, can I?"

He looked up quickly and astonished, "But you haven't even heard what I was going to ask of you. How can you just say yes already?"

You smiled at him sweetly, "Demyx, how can I say no to you? We're friends aren't we?"

He forced a smile, "Yeah, we are, aren't we?" You nodded at him and smiled, "Alright then, (your name), I was wondering if you'd come with me to a party?"

"That's all you wanted to ask?" You questioned.

He shook his head, "Not really, there's a little more. You see the thing of it is it's more like a dating dance. I know we're only friends but I was wondering if you'd be my girlfriend if just for a moment. It doesn't have to be permanent." He blushed and looked away from you, "I'm sorry, never mind, I'll just go."

You grabbed his sleeve, "Oh stop it!" You rolled your eyes, "Of course I'll go with you. It'll be fun, I'll get really dressed up and everything. I can't wait! When is it?"

Demyx scratched the back of his head, "Well, ummm…It's tonight."

Your eyes went wide, "Tonight?! At what time?"

He looked at his watch, "Well you've got six hours. It begins at nine. I know it's late and all, but that's the time."

You nodded, "That's alright, and I'll be ready by then." You jumped off the bed and pushed him off the side.

He shook his head, "H-Hey!! What was that for?"

You flipped your hair at him **(A/N If you don't have long hair then you just turned and smirked at him)**, "You need to get going, I've got to shower and everything. You can't see me till it's time for the party. Got it?" You winked.

He looked at you dazed, "Umm…yeah, I got it." He got up and brushed himself off, "Alright well, I'll be going. See you later, I guess." He suddenly turned from the sullen Demyx he had been this entire time to the natural goof that he usually was, "This'll be great! Just wait till everyone see's this!"

He was about to leave when you called out to him again, "Is it super dressy or no?"

He paused to think and then grinned, "Come in the best dress you have. I promise I'll get just as dressed up. No worries!" He winked and opened a portal. You would've gasped but you've gotten used to the weirdness around him, "See you later girly!"

With that he was gone. You laughed, "What a crazy guy." You went to your closet and pulled out a cerulean blue dress **(A/N I'll let you choose if you want it to be sleeveless, spaghetti straps, long sleeved, etc. It's just going to be blue for Demyx)**.

"Perfect." You whispered and smiled, "This is great!" You twirled with the dress in your hand and squealed, "Dancing here I come!" With that you ran towards the shower and thus the perfection of your body began.

-MelodiousNocturne: Chasing Shadows-

Time: 8:45  
Date: 6/16/2009

Place: Your House

You were all set and ready to go with only a good 15-20 minutes left. You were dressed in your cerulean blue prom-like dress with a pair of silver high heels. Gold just wasn't your thing and you never thought it went with blue anyway. You sat on your couch, tapping you foot impatiently. Time never goes by fast when you're waiting. You had your makeup on and your hair was done, shiny and with silver glitter everywhere. You had just put on lipstick and your lips were a cherry red.

You sighed, "Why must time slow down when you want to do something?"

"I don't know, but I have one question for you. Why are you going with Demyx?"

You gasped and spun around to face Axel…in a tux!

"What are you doing here? And what are you wearing?"

He smiled devilishly, "Well, I'll tell you. I'm wearing a tux. It's a super hot outfit that's a lesser chick magnet than me. But when you combine us together, well, you can clearly see what the outcome is. As for the first question," He leaned in close to you, "I just wanted to see you and I must say," His skin touched yours as he leaned in and kissed your cheek, "you look beautiful."

You felt your face burn in a blush and you looked away, "Axel, I'm going with Demyx, but thank you for the compliment."

He sighed and nodded, "Well, can you promise me one thing?"

You looked back, "It depends what it is?"

He laughed out loud, "I love how when Demyx wants you to do something you say yes without thinking, but when I ask something it 'depends' before you answer." He didn't glare, nor did he act mad, but he just smiled, "I just want one dance babe."

"That's it?" You asked.

He shrugged and nodded, "That's it, plain and simple. I mean," he shrugged again and then looked into your eyes sincerely, "we're friends…aren't we?"

You gasped inwardly, hoping that he couldn't notice. Nevertheless, you smiled, "Yeah Axel, we're friends."

He grinned, "Great! Then I'll see you there!" He walked through your front door this time instead of opening a portal, "Oh and by the way," He turned back around to you, "Please be nice to my date. I don't need either of you getting jealous or something."

With that he winked and left this time, disappearing into the darkness.

You shook your head, "He's incredible."

"Unbelievable too."

You turned gracefully to see Demyx smiling at you, "Thanks for not two-timing. That wouldn't have been pretty fun."

You smiled, "I wouldn't hurt you like that Demyx. You're far too sweet to do that to. I'd kill the girl that would hurt you."

He moved close to you and his hands held both of yours and your sides, "Well, there will probably be no other."

You cocked your head to the side, "No other?"

He shook his head, "Never mind." He smiled sweetly and leaned in and kissed your forehead, "Shall we leave, love?"

You smiled and wrapped your arms around his neck in a hug, "Yes, I'd enjoy that."

**TBC…**


	7. Love and Disaster, Hand in Hand

**Love and Disaster, Hand in Hand**

You squeezed Demyx's hand and stared wide eyed at the sight in front of you. A blue and black portal swirled in front of the both of you. He squeezed your hand gently in return as if to assure you you'd be safe.

"You're sure this safe?" You looked up at him, fear shining in your eyes.

He looked right back at you and smiled softly, "Don't worry, it'll be fine. I've traveled through these for a long time."

You took a deep breath and shuddered without thinking when you exhaled, "OK."

He pulled you close to his side, "Don't be scared. I'm right here."

His voice was angelic. Again, you looked into his eyes and you could've melted. His eyes weren't piercing, they were smooth and shining, like glass, no, it wasn't as hard as glass, it was water. His eyes were like soft, delicate, and mesmerizing like looking into a beautiful lake. His eyes were clear but there was something about them that made you awestruck. They weren't just unmoved water, it was as if there was just one tiny droplet that hit the water and made ripples. It was captivating.

"Is there something you want to ask me?" He asked, "Or is there something in my eyes?"

You shook your head no and he nodded, "Well, let's go then."

You nodded at his voice and looked forward again. The portal was still there, unrealistic as it looked, and it wasn't disappearing anytime soon. There was a gentle tug at your hand and you realized he had stepped forward and was leading you into the portal. You nodded again and took a small step forward, then another, which followed another. One step at a time, you walked into the portal with Demyx at your side.

"You'll be OK, I'm right here." The portal closed behind the both of you and he was still holding you close, "I doubt you'd get lost but I don't need you running around portals. You'd either get lost, killed, or worse."

Not looking at him and trying to concentrate on not flipping out you closed your eyes and answered, "What's worse than being killed?"

He sighed and mumbled something under his breath. You didn't catch what he said but you felt responsible for his mood swing, "Sorry, I guess I'll drop any other questions."

He forced a smile at you, "No, it's alright. I'll be fine." He held out the hand that wasn't holding yours and a second portal opened, "Shall we?"

You gave him a confused look, "You're not dressed."

He smirked, "I not am I?"

He let you go and murmured 'Stay Here' and disappeared. You waited uncomfortably, the arm that held his hand was hanging by your side while your other arm clutched the forearm of that arm. You looked around hoping he'd show up. You were about to flip when a third portal opened. You yelped a bit and then saw Demyx appear in new attire. He was in a black tux like Axel but his was flashier. He didn't exactly glow but in your heart it seemed that way. A blue rose was stuck on his right shoulder. His face wasn't pale anymore but he had color. His skin looked velvet soft and his water blue eyes shined even more. He gave you a gorgeous smile and you saw his teeth shine like pearls. His hair wasn't as messy but it was the same, a few bangs falling softly on his face.

"How about now?" He asked you.

You could only nod, seeing as you were speechless. He laughed, "Please, say something. You're making me nervous. If my looks are that good there must be a word to describe them somehow." He blushed ever so slightly and you smiled in return.

"No words could describe your looks right now, Demyx."

He came towards you and held you in his arms, "Nor can any word describe your beauty either (your name)." He kissed your forehead for the second time that night, "But, we can't make them wait any longer. Let's join the rest."

Again, you nodded in response, astonished as usual.

He shut the portal behind him and led you towards the remaining portal. You were hand-in-hand with him. You were slightly excited now, you were going to a big dance, and you wanted to see the room that was appearing before you. But all you could see was a large white flash.

0909090909090909

-At the Dance-

Time: 9:00

Date: 6/16/2009

Place: ??? ??? ???

You were blinded by a white light and you closed your eyes instinctively. Demyx was still by your side when you opened your eyes. You gasped at the scene in front of you. The room was like something stolen from Cinderella. You both were at the top of a double stairway that hand golden handrails and red carpet. A gigantic chandelier was at the center of the room and hung from a good three stories tall. There were paintings around the circular like ceiling of angels, fairies, and mythical creatures. The room was gold and there were multiple people dancing, talking, and walking around.

"You ready?" Demyx asked you and smiled at you.

You sighed, "No, but I'll go anyway."

He laughed, "Don't worry."

You moaned, "Easy for you to say."

He laughed again and walked you down the stairs. You felt elegant. Your dress was flowing slightly and Demyx was walking proudly beside you. Many people looked up at the two of you and everything became quiet while you took your final steps down the stairs.

"Why are they staring?" You whispered to him nervously.

"Let's just say, they respect nobility." He whispered back not at all nervous like you.

A young man walked up to the two of you and bowed, "Welcome back, your grace." He looked up at you after bowing and then took your free hand and kissed it gently, "And welcome to you to, milady. It's an honor having you both here."

You nodded and put on a face that said you knew what was going on, but in reality you were more confused than anything. The young man bowed once again and then went to Demyx's side. Demyx walked forward letting go of your hand and you folded your hands together in reverence.

"Let the dancing and party continue." Demyx said proudly and everyone went back in place, some people bowing and curtseying at him while others shook his hand. You saw a flash of red hair and noticed Axel with a red headed girl. He smiled at you and even winked when she wasn't looking. A younger blond male was beside him with a silky blonde girl. That must've been Roxas. He was cute, that was for sure.

Demyx returned to you and looked in the direction your eyes fell to, "Oh, that's Axel with his friend Krista and Roxas is the young blond boy with his girlfriend Namine. They're good friends of mine." You nodded and looked at him, "But we can talk to them later." He looked down at you, "May I have this dance?" He asked holding out his hand for yours. You responded accordingly and gave him your hand and allowed him to lead you to the dance floor.

He twirled you, once there, and then placed his right hand on your waist. You placed yours on his shoulder and tenderly held his other hand in yours. Thank goodness you knew how to dance. You both twirled and twisted with the music, classic as it was.

He looked down at you, neither of you saying anything, and it seemed as if he were studying you. It didn't make you uncomfortable at all, but there was something his eyes said. No, they didn't speak, they were pleading for you to say something.

"Is there something you wanted to tell me?" You asked.

He sighed, "There is so much I want to tell you. So much that I want to ask. But I don't know if it's my place."

You took your hand from his shoulder and lifted his chin when it fell down to look at the floor, "You can say anything or ask anything you wish, my lord."

He smirked, "Alright, well, there is something I've longed to do."

"Go ahead." You stated, perfectly fine with anything he did.

Whether you were expecting it, or just wishing it was going to happen, Demyx leaned down and pressed his lips against yours. His lips were warm, not to hot, not to cold. You pressed back, not making it too passionate, nor were you turning it into a make-out. He broke the kiss and stared into your eyes, "Will you be mine, (your name)? Will you go out with me? Be my girlfriend? Be my love?"

You brought yourself closer to his body, but he still wouldn't let you hold your ear to his chest, "Yes I will. Of course I will. I'd be stupid to say no."

He smiled and leaned in to kiss you again when a scream erupted from the crowd. You both broke apart to gunshots and more bloodcurdling screams. Demyx pushed you over to where Axel and his gang were standing. They were in shock and frozen where they stood. When you both reached them Demyx shouted something to Axel and Roxas that you couldn't hear over the shouts, screams, and shots. All of you took off away from the stairs and towards the shooters, but you took a quick left turn hoping to evade the killers. There was a close by scream and you heard a body hit the floor. It was Krista, Axel's "date". She had four bullet holes in her back and she was bleeding like crazy.

You tried to scream but Demyx pulled you along. He was back to his pale self as was Axel and Roxas. Namine was gone and Roxas was having a panic attack. Axel spoke some comforting words to him and the four of you continued. You were running out the front entrance where the killers came from and thought you were home free. Before you could jump into Demyx's arms you felt an excruciating pain in your ankle and you fell. When you looked behind you, you saw nothing but blood and it was all coming from your ankle. You were lying in a small puddle of your own blood.

You turned back around to cry for Demyx and Axel but they were surrounded by white looking forms, at least thirty. Water, Fire, and Light were flashing everywhere. The shock left you and you were in total pain. Hot tears ran down your cheeks and you screamed out for Demyx.

A hand grabbed your shoulder and pulled you to your feet, which put you in more pain. They wrapped you in a chokehold and you couldn't see their face. A gun-like object was placed at your head, "Don't move, and don't struggle, or you'll die."

All you could do was nod, "Please, don't do this."

Your head was jerked at a painful angle, "Shut up!"

"(YOUR NAME)!!!!" You saw Demyx running towards you, water surrounding him, and his eyes completely ice blue, no pupils, nothing. He was red with rage, "XIGBAR, LET HER GO!!"

The man holding you pointed another gun at Demyx, "This is the Superiors work, not me." His voice sounded sad, sullen, and hurt, "I can't help you this time, brother."

Demyx continued to advance towards you two, "Just let her go, Xigbar. She's done nothing wrong."

"Don't come any closer Demyx. I'll have to shoot. Superiors orders." Xigbar stated.

You didn't struggle or move, afraid of being shot. Demyx however didn't heed Xigbar's warning and continued to walk towards you two. There was single shot and a scream. You weren't sure if it was you or Demyx, you had closed your eyes and when you opened them Demyx was on the ground, in a puddle of blood. He wasn't moving.

"Demyx?" You called. Roxas and Axel couldn't get to him either; those white things were holding them down. You reached for him, "Demyx? Demyx, answer me. Get up! Demyx, you have to get up!" You saw a portal open and Xigbar was pulling you towards it, "No! I won't go!" You struggled and looked back through tears at Demyx's still and motionless figure, "Demyx! Get up, Demyx! Help me!! Demyx!!!!"

"**DEMMMMMMMMYYYYYYYYXXXXXXXXXX!!!!!!!!"**

**TBC…**


	8. Failure Demyx's POV

**Failure**

**Demyx's P.O.V.**

I remember calling her name. I was fighting off a bunch of enemy dusks with Axel and Roxas and then I realized that she was being held hostage. She had been shot and taken hostage by Xigbar. I knew that this wasn't his planning. Xigbar thought of me as a younger brother, there's no way he would've been behind this. I knew it was the Superior as soon as people started dying.

"XIGBAR, LET HER GO!!"

He pointed his gun at me, "This is the Superior's work, not me." His eyes had small and tiny tears in them. I knew that this was killing him inside. He was my brother. When I first joined the Organization it was him who took care of me. He loves me as a brother and he wouldn't do this, "I can't help you this time, brother."

I continued to advance towards the two of them, I had my sitar and hand and a hurricane behind me, splashing rough waters and dangerous winds, "Just let her go, Xigbar. She's done nothing wrong."

"Don't come any closer Demyx. I'll have to shoot. Superiors orders." Xigbar pleaded. He didn't want this. His eyes pleaded with me to stop going forward. But I have to, for her sake. I love her.

(Your name) didn't struggle or move, afraid of being shot, I would guess. It was better that she didn't struggle. Xigbar would be forced to shoot her again. I wouldn't heed Xigbar's warning, I couldn't. I saw him take aim at me and he closed his eyes as it happened. There was single shot and a scream. I knew it was me. The pain was unbearable. Blood poured everywhere, seeing as I was hit in my stomach. I couldn't move I was paralyzed.

"Demyx?" I heard (your name) call out to me. I couldn't get up or return a sound, the wound stopped that from happening. Roxas and Axel couldn't get to him either; the dusks were holding them down. I saw her reach for me and she again called my name, "Demyx? Demyx, answer me. Get up! Demyx, you have to get up!" I heard a portal open and Xigbar was pulling her towards it. He was taking her away. I couldn't do anything. I wept, "No! I won't go!" I tried to move and nothing. I was completely frozen and unable to do anything about her pleas. She was crying, I could hear it in her voice, and yet, I could do nothing, "Demyx! Get up, Demyx! Help me!! Demyx!!!!"

"**DEMMMMMMMMYYYYYYYYXXXXXXXXXX!!!!!!!!"**

Time: ??? ??? ???

Date: ??? ??? ???

Place: ??? ??? ???

I don't know how long it was before I had gotten up, but I knew I wasn't at the dance anymore. I was in a bed, not in the castle, nor was I in a familiar place. I struggled to get up and when I looked around, I saw two other beds with both Axel and Roxas on them. No one else was in the room. I sat up, slowly and painfully, and attempted to stretch. It didn't work out so well.

Either way, there was one thing on my mind. (Your name). I was sure she was at the castle. Xemnas is probably doing horrid things to her. I clenched my fist and shuddered at the thought. I had to do something. There had to be a way to save her. There has to be a way.

There was a groan and I saw both Axel and Roxas rise. Axel held his head in his hand in pain, "What happened?"

"You were all attacked."

We looked up to see Namine. So she was the one who saved us.

Roxas bolted to her and hugged her, "You're alright aren't you? Nothing happened right? Were you hurt?"

She shook her head, "I'm fine Roxas. Don't worry about me. It's (your name) I'm worried about. Xigbar took off with her." Roxas held her in his arms as she sniffled a bit.

(Your name). She's constantly on my mind. Why did this have to happen? She was an innocent person that got wrapped into all of this. It wasn't fair. Her eyes shinned so bright when I asked her to be mine. Her kiss was sweet and gentle, a soft gentle thing. It was something I had never felt. So I could feel? That proves that Vexen was wrong. I feel something, something that makes me feel jittery, but, lovingly.

The others were talking, Roxas comforting Namine and Axel cursing under his breath. I sighed, but I couldn't look at them as I spoke, "I'm going after her."

Their chatter instantly stopped and Roxas nodded, "I figured you would. There's no stopping you is there?"

I shook my head no and Axel took a step towards me, "I'm going too."

I turned and looked at him with a serious stare, "No you're not. This is MY fault. It's my fault that she was there, she's my responsibility. No one else is going, just me. I've gotta do this alone."

Axel pulled me face to face with him, "Don't even think about it. She's my friend too."

I glared at him, "No, she hardly knows you; you just think she's some prize to win. You kissed her!"

He glared right back at me, "It's not like you own her. She's free to whomever she wants to be with."

I snarled at him. Roxas and Namine watched in silence while we argued. Roxas wasn't going to get in the fight unless he absolutely has to or he's brought into the fight. Namine would stay quiet unless things got into physical violence.

If my eyes were able to change colors they would've at that very moment, "She's my girlfriend Axel and you'd better stay away from her."

His glare didn't go away, "So you asked her huh? I bet she thought you were really smooth." Fire was starting to spark from his fingers.

I raised my hand to face his chest, water pouring down them like small rivers, "Don't even think about it."

"Don't get jealous when I sweep sleeping beauty off her feet and into my arms, got it memorized?" He shot fire into my face, which I quickly doused with my left hand.

Namine screamed, "Stop it you two! (Your name) wouldn't want this! You both know she wouldn't!"

Axel caught my shirt on fire and burnt two of my fingers in the process, "What do you know, Namine? You didn't even know her!"

I took the fire out with my water abilities and blasted him in the chest, knocking him backwards and onto his back, "Stay away from her!"

Before I could attack him again, I felt cold metal against my throat, cutting into my Adams apple. I couldn't look down, but I saw Roxas' piercing eyes glaring at me. When I looked to his left I could see Axel was in the same position.

He turned to glare at Axel, "Would you two stop it? I thought that we couldn't feel, and then I feel in love with Namine," he turned his glare back at me, "and I know you have some sort of emotion for (your name). But right now, I'm not sure any of us can feel. Or that we should. The seven deadly sins are indeed deadly and you two are showing greed better than ever. If that's all we can feel, lust, greed, envy, any of them, then there's no point in either of you two going after her. I'll go."

I stopped and lowered each of my hands. Roxas was right; things were getting out of hand. (Your name) is all that matters now. I nodded and I'm guessing Axel did too because Roxas lowered both of his keyblades. Oathbreaker was on Axel's chest still and Oblivion was on mine.

"We have hearts, don't forget it. I don't care if it's there physically or not, but I'm pretty sure that we have them emotionally, and mentally." He looked at us both, "Now, let's find her, as a team, as a group of friends." This time he lowered his keyblades all the way.

I nodded, Axel nodded, and Roxas nodded. Roxas looked back at Namine and walked over and kissed her forehead, "I'll be back Namine. Be safe, don't let any of the rest of the Organization get you, or get to you."

She nodded and kissed his lips softly, "Promise me you'll come back safely." She looked at all of us, "All of you, promise me."

I nodded and we opened a portal. I went in first and heard Axel and Roxas follow me.

(Your name), I'm coming.

I promise.

**TBC…**

* * *

**A/N: Ok this REALLY has nothing to do with the fanfic, but before you scroll away, hear me out. Please take my poll. -puppy eyes- I'm debating on after I finish this whether I'll do a Draco Malfoy fanfic. -dodges random objects- I know he's not the world's most popular character but I loves him. Not more than Demyx though, by far. Also I have something to say that DOES involve this fanfic. Soon, the fanfic will be split into two parts. I will start a "new" fanfic that continues this story, but it's if you choose Axel as a boyfriend instead of Demyx. If you choose Demyx, then you'll stay here on this fanfic Chasing Shadows. If not, you'll be going over to Chasing Shadows of the Flame, Axel's part in this. And finally, one more thing. I will be writing little fanfics either involving the reader and Axel/Demyx as a family, just the two of you, or with your children. Fun fun? Yes, fun fun. No sex scenes, I promise. Just kissy kissy stuff. Nothing big. It's supposed to be cute! Anyway, that's all. Enjoy the fanfic!!!**


	9. Search and Rescue

**Melo: Sorry that it's taken so long to update guys. I was at Girls Camp, it was hotter than hell there, and then I was resting for a while. Getting up at 6 and running around in the heat until 12 at night is hard. Bleh! Well, enjoy this next chapter! It's back in your P.O.V. **

* * *

Search and Rescue

You groaned as you moved your head slowly. There was a crick in your neck because you were sitting up and your head was on your shoulder for you don't know how long. It hurt to move and you winced as you moved your head up. You went to put your hand to your head, because it was ringing, but realized you couldn't. You finally opened your eyes, which seemed to be almost impossible, and everything was a blur. You tried to move your hand again only to find yourself tied to the chair.

"Wh-Where am I?" You asked yourself, looking around. It was nothing but a big white blur.

"You're being held in captivity, ms."

You would've yelped but your voice was shot. You say a figure in black walk towards you, but everything was still a blur so you couldn't see his facial features. You blinked a couple of times attempting to make your vision clearer. Nothing worked.

The figured laughed at your failed attempts, "Your eyesight will come back shortly. Don't expect to be able to do much though; you've been out for three days."

"Three days?" you asked. That seemed impossible! There was no way you were out for three days! After all that happened, it seemed like only a few moments ago. All that happened? Wait! Where was Demyx? Axel? The others? Were they safe?

You groaned, "Where's Demyx?"

This time there was a different laugh. Another figure appeared out of a portal. Your eyesight was returning and you could see blonde hair and a smaller figure. From size, shape, and laugh you knew this one was a girl.

"Oh, Demyx! My love! Where are you? Why haven't you come and rescued me?" She laughed, "Pathetic! How do these somebodies deal with such emotion? It honestly makes me sick!" The laughter then continued.

You blinked a couple more times and shook your head; your vision had finally come back. You looked up at the two figures in black. The first that had appeared was blonde as well, taller, and definitely masculine. He had ear piercings on his ears and was interestingly enough, attractive. He looked at you with sympathy but at the same time you could almost see the dark aura surrounding his body.

He shook his head, "Oh Larxene, don't be so cruel to our guest. It's hardly lady like."

The girl, Larxene, just smirked, "Oh sorry, Luxord, I didn't mean harm. Not much harm anyway." She grinned at you sadistically.

You struggled in your chair, "What do you want with me?"

Luxord was about to answer when Larxene interjected, "It's not us. Trust me; I don't want anything to do with you. It's the Superior. He wants you for something. Something about you having a powerful heart. I'm not necessarily that interested." She inspected her nails to prove her point.

You struggled again and Luxord shook his head, "You just be a good girl, love, and everything will go smoothly. No worries."

He blew you a kiss on his fingertips and then entered a black and blue swirling portal and left.

You looked at Larxene, hoping she'd leave too; however, she advanced towards you and cupped your face in her hand, "Hmm. What Demyx see's in you I'll never know. You're not as pretty as me, that I am sure of. But then again, Demyx isn't the smartest cookie in the jar." She laughed, "Then again, I'm pretty sure that boy has no brains at all. He's useless at everything."

She ruffled your hair and waved goodbye, "Goodbye little-miss-somebody. I look forward to seeing you again." With that she left.

You tried breaking free of the bonds as soon as she left. What was all this about your heart? What did they want with it? Whatever it was, it didn't check out as fun to you. You wanted out and you wanted out now!

**Demyx's P.O.V.**

She's gotta be here somewhere. Entering the castle was no problem, surprisingly. I thought that security would've been way tighter than it actually was. I guess the Organization actually thought I really was a weakling. Heh. That was a pretty stupid move for them. I'm a fighter when I have to be. Well, I guess I also had Roxas and Axel following me, but I don't know if the Organization knows that they're with me. Probably since Xigbar attacked all three of us.

"Demyx, she's in the dungeon. Cell block 1149." Roxas called out to me and opened a portal, "Let's go! She can't survive there for long!"

"Yeah," Axel agreed, "Especially with what they're going to do to her."

I slammed my fist against the white, pearl walls of the castle, "They will NOT do anything like that to her."

Roxas sighed, "If we don't hurry they will. No doubt about it."

I nodded and knew that if we didn't hurry, (your name), she would be….

"Hurry it up Demyx!" I heard Axel call.

I turned and ran through the portal right behind them. The cell blocks were white rooms, but unlike the rest of the castle, they were unbearably white. You felt as if you were in nothingness, which I guess in a way makes anybody, nobodies and somebodies, feel worthless. I don't want her feeling that way. No how, no way.

We ran down the corridor, passing multiple cells. I was in the lead being closely followed by Axel and Roxas was on the rear, "It's here somewhere. We're getting close I know it."

I finally seemed to find my voice, "(YOUR NAME)!!!"

**Your P.O.V.**

You were getting pretty tired. Your body was getting tired really quickly. It must've been due to the fact that you were out cold for three days. Where was Demyx? Didn't he care? Or did he want a girl that wasn't any trouble? Your heart pained at the thought that Demyx only cared if you were a girl that didn't get mixed up in his business. Maybe he gave up on you.

"(YOUR NAME)!!!"

You gasped and looked up, which was a major struggle, "Demyx?" You whispered.

"(YOUR NAME)!!! ANSWER ME!!!"

"DEMYX!! HELP ME!!" You called back. Maybe you were wrong. Demyx still cared about you. He wouldn't leave you behind.

You saw a body come up against cell bars. When did those get there you asked yourself? You must've been really out of it. You just thought you were in a big room, but were you really in a jail cell. You thought those were dark and gloomy, not white and blank. But that was bad enough at the moment.

You saw Demyx, Axel and Roxas on the other side of the bars, "Guys! Help me!" You called out, "Please!"

Demyx shushed you, "It'll be alright; we'll get you out. Don't worry." He looked at Axel, "Think you could melt this?"

Axel rubbed his hands together, "No problem."

His hands ignited in front of you and caused you to flinch. You were so used to the supernatural by now it was only a small surprise when somebody, for example, could light himself on fire. Then again, you thought it actually matched Axel's fiery demeanor.

The bars were melted and Axel stepped in with Demyx closely behind him. While Axel worked on the metal that chained you down Demyx hugged you and whispered in your ears words of comfort.

"I'm sorry that this happened (your name)." He whispered.

You said nothing back, too exhausted to say or do anything.

"Hurry up you guys." Roxas whispered, "They could be here at any given time."

Axel had just melted the bars that was cutting off the circulation of blood to your hands and that chained you down when there was a cruel laugh. Roxas jumped into the cell and opened a portal beside you, "Let's get out of here!"

The portal shut before any of you could get to it. Five figures appeared in front of the four of you. You were dozing off without meaning too. _What's wrong with me? _You thought. _I don't feel like myself. _

You recognized one of them; it was Larxene but the other four you didn't recognize. Larxene was to the far left, a man with sideburns and what looked like dreadlocks stood next to her, his arms hanging by his sides and a long lance in his left hand. On the right, the man closest to the man in the center had long blue hair and an X that crossed his face; his eyes were full of rage. The man on the far right had long blonde hair and what looked like a blue shield in his hands; a cold chill pulsated from him. Then there was the man in the middle. His skin was tanned and his hair was a dark silver color. His eyes were dark and the sneer he wore on his face told you this guy was bad news.

"Did you honestly think that you could get away that simply?" The blonde man spoke. His voice sounded like a science professor. He laughed, "You are a group of idiots aren't you?"

The blue haired man next to him elbowed him in the stomach, "Keep your mouth shut. These are the Superiors pawns." His grin was wicked and sinister. It sent shivers up your spine.

Axel smirked, "When were we ever your pawns Xemnas? We've been running around like free men without your consent. What do you think you can do now?"

The man, who you were guessing was the Superior, or Xemnas, stepped forward. Of course he was the man in the center just like how it was in movies. The boss was in the center and his lackeys were on his sides.

Xemnas smirked, "You think I didn't notice, did you Axel? What if I were to say it was part of my plan from the beginning."

"You're wrong!" Demyx shouted, "How could you have planned for us to leave the Organization?"

"Leave the Organization? Pah!" The man with the sideburns growled, "You didn't leave the Organization! You were being used! You can't leave the Organization! It's impossible!"

Larxene laughed, "Xaldin, I'm afraid you're wrong with one thing. There is one way to leave the organization." Electricity flowed through her body and dart like objects appeared in between her fingers, "The one way; Death." She laughed.

Xemnas held up a hand to stop the conversation and there was silence, "That's true Larxene but we need them for a few more minutes. Or really, we just need (your name)."

Axel, Demyx, and Roxas pulled out their weapons and their elements began flowing around them. Fire, Water and Light. **(A/N: I've always thought that Roxas had Light as his element and Xemnas had Shadow or Darkness. But that's just me.) **The Organization members laughed.

You felt like you were fading somehow. Like you were fading away into nothingness, "Demyx…" You moaned. He looked down at you with worry on his face.

"Axel, get her out of here! Now!"

"You won't be able to fight alone and you know it."

"That doesn't mean I can't try. I have Roxas here with me."

"I'm not—

"Axel just go!!"

A portal opened and you felt yourself being lifted up, heat consuming you, and then there was darkness. You heard shouts and the sound of weapons and elements hitting each other. Then you were out cold.

**~9or8or9or8or9or8or9~**

Time: ??? ??? ???

Date: ??? ??? ???

Place: ??? ??? ???

You woke up in Axel's arms. You both were lying on a couch. He had wrapped his arms around you like you were a teddy bear. You moved a little seeing that the position you were in wasn't exactly comfortable. Although, you wouldn't deny it, you did feel relaxed in his arms. You felt safe.

"Are you awake?" He asked.

"Yeah." You answered and sat up, "Where are the others?"

He was silent for a second and then he too sat up, "They aren't back yet. I tried to get back there but I couldn't open a portal."

He stood up and walked away from you, his fist clinched, "I feel so useless."

You stood up too, but nearly fell over from the weakness in your legs. You felt like you had just gotten off a boat and land felt weird to walk on. You noticed your clothes had changed.

"What happened to my clothes?"

"I did that." Came a voice that you didn't recognize. You turned to see a young blonde girl.

"Oh, you're Namine aren't you?"

She nodded, "You were still kind of awake and I let you borrow some of my clothes. But you were half asleep so it's no wonder you don't remember putting them on." She smiled sweetly.

You nodded your thanks and then she left.

You turned back to Axel who had been focused on something out the window. You looked outside and it was your average everyday scene of a neighborhood.

"You know, I'm jealous."

You looked at him, he looked sincere enough, not the usual Axel you were used too, "Jealous of what?"

He sighed, "Demyx."

You blinked, "Why?"

He looked at you and you were transfixed in his gaze again. He was beautiful, no doubt about it. His face was angelic and you had to resist the urge to reach your hand up and touch it. You bet it was soft, and gentle.

"He has you." He took your hands in his and just as you had suspected, they were soft to the touch, "(your name), I want you. I want you to stay by my side, to be my girlfriend. No, I want you to be more than that. I want you to be my lover, my soul mate, my friend, my wife. I want you and I'm too damn jealous to let anyone else have you. It kills me inside to see you with another man. So call me over-protective or whatever you want to, I just want you for my own."

This shocked you but what shocked you more was when he pulled you into a hug, "Please, be with me. Stay with me. I love you."

**TBC…**

* * *

**Alright guys! This is where you decide what happens next! Do you pick Axel or Demyx? It's your choice! If you choose Demyx, continue reading this story. If you choose Axel, click on my username or search the story Chasing Shadows: A Flame Inside. I will update soon! P.S. Each story will be updated at the same time. When I put the next chapter on here, Chasing Shadows: A Flame Inside will begin! Have fun! -MelodiousNocturneGirl**


	10. The Love for Water

**Melo: Alright all you Demyx lovers out there, by continuing this story this obviously means you've chosen the oh-so-loveable and super cute Demyx over that fiery pyro Axel. (Two dolphins do flips beside each other creating a giant splash and then an orca jumps though the middle and creates a bigger splash and the word DEMYX forms in the splash and then disappears). Heh…the idea was a lot prettier in my head than it was on paper. –shrugs- oh well. Anyway, enjoy this next chapter! **

**READ FIRST!!!:By the way, the first part while your with Axel is the same in both chapters for a little bit. I didn't want to revise your P.O.V. twice so yeah. It's just me being lazy…eh heh heh…^^; ****Chasing Shadows**** also has a different ending from ****Chasing Shadows: A Flame Inside****. In this chapter there will be a line that separates the similar part in ****Chasing Shadows: A Flame Inside****, but the chapter afterwards is different! There will be no crossing over to ****Chasing Shadows: A Flame Inside**** from here on out. Axel will appear but there won't be any romance. Promises! **

**The Love for Water**

"You know, I'm jealous."

You looked at him, he looked sincere enough, not the usual Axel you were used too, "Jealous of what?"

He sighed, "Demyx."

You blinked, "Why?"

He looked at you and you were transfixed in his gaze again. He was beautiful, no doubt about it. His face was angelic and you had to resist the urge to reach your hand up and touch it. You bet it was soft, and gentle.

"He has you." He took your hands in his and just as you had suspected, they were soft to the touch, "(your name), I want you. I want you to stay by my side, to be my girlfriend. No, I want you to be more than that. I want you to be my lover, my soul mate, my friend, my wife. I want you and I'm too damn jealous to let anyone else have you. It kills me inside to see you with another man. So call me over-protective or whatever you want to, I just want you for my own."

This shocked you but what shocked you more was when he pulled you into a hug, "Please, be with me. Stay with me. I love you."

You looked up into his blazing green eyes. No, they weren't blazing this time; they were soft, just like Demyx's eyes. Demyx… You knew in your heart that it longed for Demyx, not Axel. But Axel was your friend. What would you say?

He sighed, "I see it in your eyes. You don't have to say anything." He let go of you and looked back out the window, his body still towards you, "You're in love with Demyx aren't you?"

You nodded but didn't take your eyes off him, "Axel…"

He shook his head and smiled, that same smile that he always had, that smile that says _"Hey, I'm good-looking, smart, and all around better than anyone else!" _That grin made your heart flutter and when he hugged you again, your heart pounded in your chest as if trying to reach his, "Naw, don't apologize. I know you like Demyx and I know he's the world to you. Don't worry about anything. I'll be alright. I promise."

You hugged him back and looked up into his eyes, "Axel you're my best friend. I'm sorry that things couldn't work out between us but, I'm happy that your still here for me."

He looked down at you, his eyes now radiating and back to their normality, and held you close, "No, (your name), you're the one here for me. If it weren't for you-

He stopped and when you looked up at him you saw his eyes going wide.

"Axel? Axel what's wrong?"

There was no answer. You tried pulling yourself from him and it was as if you were being held by concrete. You couldn't get away. Not only that but you were pulling into him. You felt your heart beat go up and your chest seemed to be trying to become one with his.

"Axel! Let go!" You looked into his eyes, "Snap out of it!" Your eyes met his and everything seemed to be frozen, like you were stuck in time. You concentrated on his face for a while, it wasn't cold or anything it was just stuck. You looked into those green eyes of his and you slowly felt heat coming to your own eyes. It felt like you were looking at the sun, well, maybe not as hot. When you looked into the glass of the window from the corner of your eye, you saw that your eyes too had turned green, except yours were literally glowing.

You looked back at Axel in awe, "Axel, what's going on? What's happening?"

There was a flash and the next thing you knew was that you were spinning into Axel, as if you were being sucked into a twister. Things went flying by your head and you screamed thinking that they were going to hit you. They were large objects but you didn't get a close enough look to tell what they were. You closed your eyes hoping that the nausea would go away. When you finally opened your eyes there was a big black wormhole that was sucking you towards it. Fear's arrow struck deep into your heart and soul.

You let out on last scream.

* * *

**(A/N: Alright, if you couldn't really understood what I meant in the beginning, way up there, this is where Chasing Shadows changes from Chasing Shadows: A Flame Inside)**

After what seemed like an eternity you gathered the courage to open your eyes once again. Your eyesight was back to normal, there was no heat coming from them, you could feel the coolness coming from air. When your vision came back you met a pair of aqua blue eyes. Relief filled your body.

"Are you alright, (your name)?"

You smiled gently as a kiss met your cheek. You sat up and kissed his cheek back, his eyes were filled with concern, "Yeah…I'm alright. What about you? I thought you were going to die back there."

He shook his head, "I don't fight when I have to. We played a long game of cat and mouse and eventually the mouse won."

"What about Roxas?"

Demyx shrugged, "He's with Namine. She was worried sick about him, especially when it was a drugged and knocked out you with Axel only appearing. She thought the worst."

You sighed, "What do they want with me?"

He cupped your face in his hand, "That doesn't matter right now. What matters is your safe."

You nodded your head and then it dawned on you, "What happened to Axel? Is he alright? Everything just went haywire. Things were going crazy and then—

"Shhh." He pressed a finger to your lips and gave you a sympathetic look, "Don't panic. Something happened that's not really explainable right now, but it'll be ok. Don't worry about it. Axel's fine. He's resting in his room now."

You nodded and rested against his shoulder, "Demyx what happened to me?"

He sighed, "No more questions tonight."

You shook your head, "Demyx I must know. What happened back there? Something happened you can't claim it as a fluke thing!" A pause, "I remember Axel just froze, like ice had taken over his body. I remember looking at his face and then looking at my own in the reflection of the glass. My eyes…they were glowing. I know they were! They were glowing a bright green; shining everywhere like how a light reflects against a diamond." You looked up at Demyx, "I know something happened Demyx. I know it!"

You got quiet as you saw the look on his face. It was beyond sad, it was depressing and it broke your heart. You thought that he would've cried if he said anything. You placed a hand on his cheek, "Please, tell me what happened."

He sighed again, "Your heart was radiating and searching for something alive within Axel." You held your breath, trying to become calm, hoping that whatever information that he held wouldn't scare you. His eyes were serious now, and it was as if he could see it in your eyes that you were willing and able to take on this new information.

"Why would it do that? We're living people aren't we?"

He flinched as if a bee had stung his arm. Apparently what you had said had struck home, "(your name), there's something I've been meaning to tell you. Something that I have to tell you and if I didn't this explanation wouldn't make any sense whatsoever."

His eyes stayed with yours, never leaving to look down, "What is it?"

He was completely focused on you, "We're what you call Nobodies."

You gave him a confused glance, "Nobodies?"

He nodded, "Yes, it's an empty shell you could say. We have no emotions; just one's we, for lack of a better term, fake emotion. We don't have any. Neither do we have hearts."

You shook your head, "Impossible." It came out as a whisper. It was something you couldn't believe. No; it was something you wouldn't believe. You couldn't believe that all the signals and signs that Demyx had sent to you were fake. That's not possible. How could emotions be fake?

"It's not impossible sadly. It's the truth." He pulled you into him, "Just listen."

Your ear fell upon his chest. This wasn't the first time that this has happened but it wasn't the last either, you were sure of that. But, it was true what he said, you couldn't hear or feel, as you had put your hand on his chest as well, a heartbeat. It wasn't there!

You slowly pulled back away from his chest, "You're right. There's not a heartbeat."

He nodded, "I wanted to tell you this for some time now, but I haven't found the courage to be able to." His face flushed a little.

"There! It's right there!" You pointed to his face and he jerked back, his face confused and shocked.

"What's there? What's on my face?"

You touched his cheek, "Right here. You just blushed. That's a sign of emotion isn't it? And you also weren't sure how to tell me that you're a nobody. That's also a sign of emotion. You were scared. That's a pure sign of emotion."

"It's fake though." He looked down ashamed.

You shook your head, "The way I see it, the only way you could fake emotion is if you didn't mean it." He looked up at you confused, "I'll give an example. Let's say that right here, right now, you didn't want to be around me at all. You're showing affection though right? If you didn't want me around but you did this anyway, THAT would be faking emotion. But you want to be here right now and you do want to be around me, no?" He nodded, "Well that means your not faking emotion."

He nodded, "I guess that could explain it."

You nodded, "Don't worry about it. If I broke up with you just because you're a nobody, that'd make me racist; which I'm not."

He smiled, "Yeah you're right."

You shrugged, "If this is all about a heart anyway, why don't I just give up mine? I mean, all it's there for is to pump blood into—

He slammed his hand against the wall behind the couch y'all were sitting on. His eyes were cold and furious. It was in a flash, an instant. Demyx turned into angry faster than a cheetah takes after its prey. **(A/N: It takes around 2 seconds for a Cheetah to hit his/her full speed. No more than that. It's 2 or less. Or so I heard. –dodges knifes- What? I just wanted to state some facts in there…ACK! -dodges all sorts of sharp objects. OK, OK, I'll leave. Continue reading. Sheesh!)**

His eyes went to yours and you shivered. You've never seen him like this before and it frightened you, "Don't you ever think about that again. Do you understand? You're just acting stupid if you even think of become one of us! It's suicide! Did you not see what happened with Xemnas back there?!" He got to his feet and started pacing in front of you, "You're not just dead; you're worse than dead! You'd have to live a life, if you want to even call it a life, of misery! You can't feel emotions, you don't have a heart, you can't go out to society because everyone would find you or think of you as a freak of nature, it's HORRIBLE! Not only that but it never ends! The torment never stops cause we're immortal! Having to hide in the shadows for the rest of your life? You don't want this life! I promise you that! Please, don't think of that! EVER!"

He stopped pacing and was panting. He slammed his fist once again into the wall, "I can't…I won't see you suffer. Not like I've seen the others. I won't let you. No, I can't let..."

You saw tears trace his eyes. You didn't know whether he was crying over the thought of you being a nobody or the fact that he was frustrated. Either way, you didn't like it. You rose from your spot on the couch and walked towards him, slowly at first, and then a normal pace later. When you reached him you put your hand on his shoulder causing him to look up at you. The tears were rolling down his cheeks now, he wasn't bothering to wipe his face; he just let them fall.

"You said you're immortal. So what makes you think I want to live my life without you or Axel or Roxas or any of the others that are kind to me? I'm betting there are others that are friends of yours but they're scared to leave that hellhole you lived in. That castle, that's where you live. I remember because when we played twenty questions when we first met you told me. But if I must stay this way and you refuse to come out of your shadows, I'll be chasing shadows for the rest of my life. I don't want to be without you Demyx. I don't care if we just started going out, I see that you're so much more than any of those other guys. I do want to be a nobody and stay by your side till the end of time. But if not, I'll just chase shadows from now till the day I die."

You kissed his lips, tasting the salt from his tears, "I won't let you be alone."

He nodded and attempted a smile and said nothing. He kissed you back, making a small peck into a splendid passionate kiss. The saltwater tears fell from his face. As you separated, you licked, a small puppy dog lick, his cheek and caught a tear.

He chuckled, "Sorry for the saltiness."

You shook your head, "No, don't apologize. Its water it's apart of you. I love it."

Another chuckle, "How can you love it? Water has no flavor; it's just fun to play with in pools and stuff. Half the time it's useless."

You shook your head, "No I love water, because without water there would be no you. There wouldn't be a me. There wouldn't be anything on this planet. I can't help but love water."

**TBC…**

**Melo: How'd you like it? Didja love how I tied in the title of the story in this chapter? Actually I wasn't planning on doing anything with it when I first started writing this fic and then it kinda fell into place. Hope you enjoyed it!**


	11. Understanding Each Other

**Melo: Alrighty guys here's the next chapter of Chasing Shadows. Hope you like it!**

**Understanding Each Other**

You looked Demyx in the eye, "Demyx, what's going on? What happened with Axel?"

He sighed, "I knew you'd ask that. But before we do anything, can I ask you to do me a favor?"

You smirked, "It depends."

He laughed, "Yeah, well. How about a date?"

You lifted one of your eyebrows and gave him a skeptical look, "A date?" He nodded, "You want to go on a date, while all hell's breaking loose?" Again, he nodded. "You're crazier than I imagined."

"Is that a yes?" He gave you big puppy dog eyes.

You laughed, "Well it's a maybe."

He smirked and chuckled, "OK, how about this? We go on a date and I'll tell you anything you want to know. Kinda like our twenty questions that we did when we first met. But you can't ask any serious questions, like for example 'What does the Organization XIII want with me?' until the date is over. Deal?"

You looked at him, "So, I can ask anything as long as it doesn't have to do with the Organization or what they plan on doing with me if they get their hands on me."

He nodded, "Yup, that's about it."

You laughed and shook your head, "Alright. Sure. Why not?"

He kissed your forehead, "Good. I'll be at the front door at oh…four hours? That should give you enough time." He winked and got up to leave the room.

"Do I honestly take that long?" You asked still sitting on the couch.

He laughed, "I don't know, but I know women take a lot longer to clean up than men." With that he left.

You sighed as he left and headed to your room to get all dolled up.

**(A/N: Alright I'll let you guys pick what you want to wear. You definitely want to pick something that's extremely good looking. A.K.A you don't want to use normal church wear. You'll want to wear something high class or prom-dressy and/or flashy. I know you guys have a great imagination so go for it!)**

Now that you're all dolled up you walked back to the front room; suspense killing you. You wanted to know what Demyx looked like. He had to be handsome. There was no doubt about that.

As you entered the room you nearly fainted at the sight. Your heart did more than flutter even though Demyx had his back to you. You could see just from the back that Demyx was beyond handsome. Your heart pounded in your chest and your breath was definitely taken away.

"I-I'm ready." You managed to get those two words out but that was it.

Demyx turned around, in a tux with a rose sticking out slightly. His hair was still the same mullet-like form, but he had definitely made it look very neat. His eyes were shining beautifully in the light of the room. He was drop-dead gorgeous.

"You look absolutely stunning." He said looking at you up and down, "You're amazing."

You blushed slightly under your makeup, "Well, look at you. You're dashing, brilliant, gorgeous, handsome, I mean…I believe even those words are an understatement."

Demyx gave his usual smirk, "No, there are no words to describe you." He shrugged and chuckled, "Well none that I can think of right now."

"We're not going to another ball are we?"

He laughed and shook his head, "No darling, we're not. I should've known that they were going to be there."

"They?"

He nodded, "The other nobodies that captured you. Me, Axel, and Roxas had fooled a group of people and they thought we were some type of reincarnation of Gods. Why? Because we used some mystic mumbo jumbo." He laughed, "But the other nobodies knew about it. I should've known they would've grabbed you."

You hugged him, wrapping your arms around his waist, "Don't worry about it, that's all done and over with." You kissed his nose, "So, oh magic portal opener, are we going to get going?"

He laughed, "Don't tease me." He pressed his lips against yours gently and made the kiss passionate.

You released at the same time, "So are we going or are you just going to stand here and kiss me?" You asked him.

He made a face to make him look like he was thinking, "Hmmm…I guess we'll have to go. I didn't get you all dressed up for nothing."

You laughed as he released you and opened a portal. Wrapping his arm around your waist he led you into the portal after throwing a note on the couch explaining where you'd both be.

You both ended up at the front of a fancy restaurant **(A/N: I'll let you pick)**. Demyx took you by the hand and walked you to the entrance. Once you were at your seats and you both had ordered the talking commenced.

"Alright, so let's see, what's your deepest darkest secret?"

He laughed as the waitress brought your drinks too you apologizing that the food wasn't ready yet. She didn't really apologize to you as much as she did to Demyx. Face it, he's dazzling, no woman could really resist him. It wasn't his charms that really did it but it was his manners. Demyx wasn't a put-on-a-show kind of guy. But his looks did the trick and made any heart flutter. You were thankful however, that he paid zero attention to her. She tried to join the conversation even, much to your annoyance. Before Demyx answered your question he shooed her away. She grunted and groaned and left. You snickered under you breath.

"Well, from whom am I keeping this secret from? The Organization or the World?"

"Let's go with the world." You said and folded your hands neatly and rested your chin on them.

He thought about it for a second, "I would have to say the fact that I sing in the shower."

You laughed, "You sing in the shower? Get out."

He laughed with you, "No joke. I do. I once got caught by Axel, he walked in the shower, I must've left the door unlocked, or that's what he said, I think he picked the lock. But anyway, he taped me singing, 'Sunglasses at Night'. He played it to everyone at lunch. I was picked on for weeks without end." He continued to laugh, "So what's your next question?"

You shrugged, "I'm thinking."

He adjusted his seat, "Alright, well while you're thinking I'll ask you something."

You nodded, "OK."

"What's something that nobody knows about you? Good, Bad, or Otherwise."

You shrugged, "Most everybody knows things about me."

He rolled his eyes, "Nice try at avoiding the question."

You grinned, "Well I believe the deal was me asking you the questions. Not the other way around."

He laughed, "Touché."

The waitress was back now and placed down your plates. Demyx's dinner was a lot larger than yours, but then again, he was a boy.

"Can I get you anything else?" She asked him, her back to you.

He shook his head not looking at her, "No, I'm alright," then he looked at you, "Do you want anything else (your name)?"

"No, I'm OK."

His eyes staying glued to you, "Alright waitress, I think we're OK."

She walked away once again in a huff.

You smirked again, "You don't have to be so mean to her?"

He took a drink from his glass, "Who?" He looked around, "I don't recall there being anybody else here."

You're mouth went wide, "Demyx. That's so mean."

He laughed, "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. So what's the next question?"

You shrugged, "Well I know you're favorite color is blue, your deepest darkest secret is you sing in the shower, you're ticklish-

He choked on his drink, "How'd you know I was ticklish?"

You gave him an evil grin, "Well I've known since we first met. Remember? You shoved me under the covers while we played hide-(your name)-from-Xigbar."

The waitress walked by again and gave Demyx a wide-eyed look. He didn't fail to notice, "It's not what you think. Quit eavesdropping. It's none of your business." He waved her away for the third time.

He then turned his attention back to you, "Don't you dare tell anyone."

"Anyone what?" You said taking a bite of food.

"That I'm ticklish. I mean they already play jokes on me, now they'd have some sort of blackmail. Or they could get anything out of me." He said in a whisper.

"OK, so here's what I'm getting. You're not just ticklish, you're super ticklish, you can't stand it either and that's why you don't want others to know. Am I correct?"

He took a bite of food as well and then a swig of his drink, "You hit the nail on the head, don't tell anyone."

"Oh, I won't. I'll just use it to my advantage later."

He stopped eating and gave you a serious look, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, knowing you Demyx, whenever we get on a subject you don't like you always say 'Next question' or 'I'm not answering that'. So now, when I need some answers that nobody else can give me and you resist, I know how to get it out of you."

He shook his head slowly, "You little vixen."

"Ah, the female fox. Beautiful, yet cunning."

"Just like you." He said while pointing his fork at you.

You laughed and continued to eat.

"What about you?"

You looked up, "What about me?"

He gave you a skeptical look, "C'mon answer me."

You laughed with slight confusion, "What am I supposed to answer?"

"Are you ticklish too?"

You huffed, "Why would I tell you that?"

"So you are." He grinned.

You gave him a smirk, "I never said that."

"Only one way to find out then."

You laughed, "Good luck. I doubt you'll get the opportunity."

"Oh yes I will. If it's the last thing I ever do."

You laughed, "We'll see."

"Oh yes we will." He said taking another bite of his meal.

* * *

You both left the restaurant an hour or so later. Pointless questions were asked, nothing big, nothing that was going to affect anybodies life, unless you count the deepest darkest secret question. You were draped in his arms by the time you got back to the house. Your arms were wrapped around his neck and kissed him on the cheek. He hiccupped and you laughed and he sat you on the couch.

"Got hiccups?" You asked.

"Sadly." He shook his head.

You got up off the couch, "Well I'm going to go change into my pj's." **(A/N: It's around 11:00 at night)**

"Yeah," he nodded in agreement, "me too." He turned back towards you, "Will you meet me back here at the couch?"

You nodded, "Sure."

Less then ten minutes later you were back on the couch, having cleaned off your makeup, and in your pajamas. **(A/N: once again I'll let you choose your clothing.) **You sat waiting for Demyx when he came in with a light blue silky pant bottoms and a matching light blue T-shirt.

He sat right beside you, "Well, are you going to start part two of our promise."

You shook your head, "Not tonight."

He shrugged, "I guess since we're both tired."

"And full." You added cuddling up against him.

"Fatty." He poked your shoulder.

You gasped and looked at him with fake pain in your eyes, "Demyx, that's so mean."

He laughed, "It's true you ate more than me." He stuck his tongue out at you which you did the same.

"I did not!" You raised your voice, but he only laughed.

"Shh… You're going to wake the dead."

"Mhm, right whatever."

"Well then again, you probably scared them all off, the way you ate that food at the restaurant."

"That's it!" You said pouncing on top of him and running your fingers up and down his stomach.

He just stuck his tongue out at you, "Not ticklish there."

"Oh really?" You said with an evil grin, "Funny, when I was stuck under those covers I remember you being ticklish when I poked at you like this." You poked at his rib cage, earning you an equal amount on twitching.

"Ha! I knew you were ticklish." You ran your fingers up and down his sides, earning you a lovely amount of giggles.

"OK, OK! You've got me! I'm ticklish!" He said between giggles, "Now stop it."

"Say I'm the queen."

"Heh, I can't say that cause I'm a guy. It'd be I'm a King."

You increased your tickling earning you full heartfelt laughs. He struggled under you squirming trying to get away, "Say (your name) is the queen."

"Hahaha…Never…hahahahahaha!"

You shrugged and put your fingers under his shirt, the tickling touching his bare skin, "Suit yourself."

That earned you a squeal from the teen, "OK! OK! You're the queen! (Your name) is the Queen!"

You stopped, "Good job." You sat now rubbing his stomach, which at first twitched under your touch but then relaxed, "Now that wasn't so hard was it?"

"Sh-shut up." Was his only response.

You kissed his lips and he blinked, "What was that for?"

You smiled, "For existing."

He smiled back and closed his eyes, enjoying the massage he was getting. Little did either of you two know things were going to get worse from here on out.

And this was going to be the last times you'll be able to relax in a long time….

**TBC…**

**Melo: I felt like writing a relaxing chapter with you and Demyx. Y'all had practically gone through hell and I felt y'all deserved it. But like the fic says, it'll be the last time you'll be able to relax in this fic. That's right guys, it's Action/Adventure from here, with heartfelt romance from time to time. Don't kill me! -ducks in case any objects fly by- But hey, don't forget to send in requests after the fic so I can write cute little fluffs with you and Demyx (and kids if you want). Bye-bye for now! ^^**


	12. The Turning of the Tide

**Melo: Here's the next chapter, sorry I haven't updated a lot. I don't think I'll finish these before school starts :( Sorry guys, that's going to make it harder on me too..-sigh- O well. Please enjoy!**

**The Turning of the Tide**

It had been three days after your date with Demyx and things had been going swell. Neither one of you had been attacked nor seen any other member of the Organization, besides Namine, Roxas, and Axel. You stretched your arms and gave a relaxed sigh. You were standing outside, holding a laundry basket and doing laundry for everyone.

You hummed to yourself, thinking that everything would be ok. No more worrying about nobodies, besides the ones you were living with. Speaking of which, all five of you had bought a new home. All of you had moved into a large two story house out in the country. There were two balconies, one on the west side of the house and one on the east. However there were only four bedrooms. Axel said he'd share with Roxas and wrapped his arms around him and noogied him. You all laughed as Roxas shoved Axel off and started beating him with one of the kitchens decorations. After that Demyx offered to sleep with you, which earned you a blush and snickers from all but Namine who thought it was extremely reckless and inappropriate for a boy and a girl to share the same room. Roxas's idea of inviting Namine to sleep with him was out of the question. She snapped at him before he had the chance to even say anything. Which left all of you with only one option left; you and Namine had to share a room.

So, after months of decorating, or really fighting over the decorations, you all settled down. Rules were established and were broken, which mainly was the guys faults. Electricity was installed and warm water had finally become available, but Demyx offered to help with warm water whenever he could. He even once offered to pour warm water down your back during a shower, which earned him a quick slap across the face. He suggested getting a hot water heater after that.

You smiled as you reminisced about the incident and even let out a laugh. You folded a towel to hang-dry over a clothes line when two hands covered you eyes.

"Guess who!" A voice called.

You smirked, "Well, let's see, seeing as there are only three men here and two of them are busy beating each other at video games, I'm guessing its Demyx, the water lover."

He spun you around and you were greeted with an eager and bright grin, "Yup, yup!"

You laughed, "When did you become so bright and cheerful?"

He shrugged and wrapped his arms around you and pulled you close, "I always have been."

You kissed his nose, "I guess you have."

He grinned, "That's me!"

"Hey you two! Are you just going to stand there and dawdle? There's work to be done!" Namine shouted from the top floor. You looked up and smiled at her. Her face was beaming and she laughed, "I caught you slacking!"

Demyx laughed, "What about your boyfriend? Isn't he slacking?"

She rolled her eyes, "Roxas is 'busy' beating Axel. Apparently loser cleans the showers and bathrooms."

You laughed, "Well then those bathrooms aren't going to be clean anytime soon. Axel won't stop asking for rematches until he's won. I'll clean it for him."

Namine frowned, "Oh no you won't! Axel's going to have to learn to work sooner or later!"

"Better sooner than later!" You heard Axel cry out from the open door.

Demyx chuckled, "Roxas has his work cut out for him. Axel's going to bore him to death and he's just going to end up giving up."

You shrugged, "I don't know, Roxas doesn't give up so easily."

Demyx wiggled his eyebrows at you, "Wanna bet?"

You placed your hands on your hip, "Oh, so we're betting now huh?"

He grinned, "You want to?"

Again, you shrugged, "Sure? Why not? Although," You gave him a mischievous look, "What do I get if I win?"

He copied your look and smirked, "Nay, my dear, the question is what do **I** get if **I** win?"

You chuckled, "Well, lets see, what do you want?"

He wrapped his arms around you, "Well, frankly, even if I lose there is something I want."

You gave him a mocked gasp, "Well that's not far is it?"

He smiled, "I think you'll like it."

You rolled your eyes, "Fine. You can have whatever it is."

"You won't ask me what it is first?"

You shrugged, "You're not the kind of guy to take advantage of a girl, so why should I care?"

He gave you a slight crooked smile, "Alright, since you put so much trust in me, I won't tell. But, now, "He brought you closer to his body, "what do you want if you win?"

You gave a thoughtful look, "I have a question."

"Shoot."

"Is what you're going to get a big deal?"

He nodded, "Yes."

You nodded in agreement, "Then mine shall be too."

He cocked his head to the side, "What is it?"

You looked down at the ground, knowing that he wouldn't like what he was about to hear, and mumbled, "I want to be a Nobody."

He raised an eyebrow, "Pardon?"

You were a bit flustered but this time you looked him in the eyes, "Demyx, I…I want to be a Nobody. I want to be like the rest of you."

Demyx's eyes instantly changed. They went from a warm oceanic look to a stone cold ice look in less than a second. His eyebrows furrowed and his grin turned into a glare, "Why would you want to do that?" He asked in an irritated tone.

You backed out of his arms, but the pleading didn't stop, "Demyx, I want to be apart of your world! I want to be with you forever! If I stay human, you'll out live me. I don't want to be alone!"

He growled, "But becoming a Nobody will just end your life! You don't know what you're getting into!"

Now you were getting angry, "Demyx, you wouldn't have come to me however long ago to ask me out if you didn't want me to get involved!"

He clinched his fist and glared, "You were the one who went wandering around in the alleyway! I wouldn't have had to come if you hadn't been stupid enough to go down there by yourself!"

By now, the other three had come to the doorway or a window. All four of you knew about Demyx's temper when the subject of turning you into a Nobody was brought up, "You didn't have to save me!"

His lower lip trembled, but he continued to fight, "What else was I supposed to do?! I couldn't just stand there!!"

However, seeing him the shattered state didn't kindle the fire burning in you, "I didn't ASK you to save me!!"

His next reply was quick and simple, "I LOVE YOU!!"

Everything went silent. Your eyes widened and you stared at him. His lower lip was trembling and you just now saw how red his face was, but it wasn't out of anger. He was crying. The tears fell from his face in rivers. He ran a hand through his hair, multiple times trying to get himself to calm down, "I love you! Can't you understand what a human life is worth?!"

He broke down into sobs and fell to his knees, his hands in his hair and he was doubled over, looking at the ground, "I love you! Don't ask for being a Nobody! Please! I'll do anything else, just not that! Please!"

You looked at the others and their faces mirrored yours. They were just as shocked and just as frozen. None of you knew what to do with him.

Finally, you were able to find yourself and you walked towards him. His sobs got louder the closer you got, "Demyx? Honey?"

He was shaking and shivering in place. You heard him whispering, _"Please, you can't ask me. Please, please..." _over an over again.

You put both of your hands on his shoulders, "Demyx?"

He looked up at you, "Why? Why do you want that?"

Tears started to fall from your face, "Because I want to be with you forever."

You pulled his head to your chest and your heart pumped faster when he got close to it, "It wants you Demyx. I want you. I'd do anything to be with you. I'm willing to give up anything."

His hands, still shaking, wrapped around your body and patted your back, "Why?"

The tears fell from your face and damped a small part of his hair, "Why not?"

He shook his head, his breathing finally calming down, "Please, just tell me why."

You sighed, hadn't you said everything, "I…I love you Demyx. You're who I want to spend all eternity with. Please…Just let me…become a part of your world."

He pulled back from you and looked at you closely. Slowly one of his hands unwrapped itself from your back and snaked its way to your stomach and to the resting place of your heart. You both knelt there, silently. You watched his every movement as he just stared at your chest.

"Demyx?" You asked after a while, "What are you thinking?"

He just shook his head, "I can't believe…I'm giving in…"

You gasped and gave him shocked look, "You…You're going to let me…?"

He stood up and then helped you up as well, but wouldn't look at you, "You do understand that when you do this, you won't be able to turn back."

You nodded, "I know."

Demyx swiftly turned around, "Axel, I'm going to need you to set up my bedroom. Clean it up for me please? If not, ask Namine. Roxas could you go get a two buckets for me. I'll need one really, especially clean while the other can be slightly dirty. Axel, since you've asked Namine to do the cleaning, I want you to grab a couple of dusks. Lastly, we'll need silence. We can't have anyone coming near this house. There will be tons of noise."

Axel snorted, "Demyx, we're in a two story cabin-like house out in the middle of a forest. Nobody is coming."

Demyx looked at him, "That is exactly what I'm afraid of."

Roxas nodded, "The Organization will find out about her, we've got to keep her safe."

Demyx nodded, "We've got to keep her secret. Let's get moving!"

Demyx took your hand and led you to his room, which Namine already started cleaning. You both sat down on the bed and Namine continued to move things out of the way and clean the place up a bit. Demyx pulled you close and wrapped an arm around you, but said nothing. Your heart started beating, as if to protest and Demyx felt it.

"You're afraid." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

You nodded, "I won't deny it."

He nodded as well, "You should be."

He pulled you into his lap and held you like a prince does a princess. His face was in your hair and he closed his eyes, "You smell amazing."

A small blush crept across your cheeks, "Th-thank you."

He placed a kiss on your cheek, "Your welcome."

You looked at him and smiled. He forced a smile back and one last thing kissed your cheek. A single tear fell from his face.

~ChasingShadows~ChasingShadows~ChasingShadows~

A few hours later and all four Nobodies were in the room. Demyx had used his ability to pour some water into one of the buckets, the cleaner of the two. You sat nervously and watched as two skinny figures appeared. They were freaky looking and they startled you by their snake like movements.

Demyx caught the look in your eyes and pointed towards them, "They're dusk. Don't worry about it, they're with us."

Namine took a step towards Demyx, "What if she turns-

Demyx snapped, "She won't turn into a dusk." He looked back at you, "I know she won't."

Axel sighed and stood up from leaning on the wall, "Let's get this over with before the Organization finds out."

Roxas nodded, "You going to do it, Demyx."

Fear embraced Demyx's eyes and demeanor. He stared at you as if you were some creature from the depths of Hell. He gasped and breathed in and shook his head, "Y-Yeah I'll do it."

You gave him a sympathetic look. The only reason he was doing it was because you wanted to. He wouldn't let the others touch you, you doubt he'd even let Namine do the 'honors'.

He walked towards you, each and every step making you flinch on the inside. You wouldn't show your fear now. He helped you lay flat on the bed and he sat over you, your body spread eagle like, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

You nodded, "For you, I will."

He nodded and you watched as he raised his hand just slightly above your heart. It pounded inside your chest as if wanting to break free now. Water formed around his hand and what looked like a whirlpool formed on your chest. You bit your lip and closed your eyes as you winced in pain. Who knew water could hurt so? You slowly opened one eye and watched as Demyx's hand slowly came in contact with the portal. Your heart was racing and the pain grew faster. You felt his hand pierce your chest and it took everything you had to keep from screaming. Finally, he took a hold of your heart and now you couldn't help but scream.

You opened your eyes and looked down, something you shouldn't have done. Blood had covered your body and some was spitting out of the hole. The water had turned red and you screamed again, both now in terror and pain.

You arched your back, which made it a bit harder for Demyx. You closed your eyes and screamed, "Get it over with!! Pull!!"

He did just as you said and in a split second, you felt nothing. Your eyesight was gone and your hearing was gone as well. You felt like you were slipping away, far away from everyone.

_"No! It wasn't supposed to be like this!" _You screamed in your mind. Large creatures appeared before you and you knew they were a type of Nobody. A man, or woman, in a black cloak appeared behind them and sent them after you. As they charged you covered your face and screamed, "No!!!" When there was a flash of blue and black.

You blinked and then looked at your hands. A large bow was in them with a quiver on your back. In an instant you grabbed for the arrows and started firing. It was a direct hit on every shot. After you finished them off, you shot at the figure in black. They pulled out what looked like a gun and fired back, causing an explosion between each of you. You looked straight ahead and saw the figure pull back his hood. He had an eye patch over one eye and his hair slicked back an in a ponytail.

"That's no way to treat a fellow Nobody, (your name)."

You recognized the voice instantly. This was the guy that kidnapped you some time ago, "Summoning lackeys to attack me isn't exactly a hello, either."

He chuckled and crossed his arms over his chest, "Touché."

You heard Demyx call out your name and looked away, "It seems like I'm needed."

You heard him clapping, "Tell Demyx I said hi." He turned away from you, "The name's Xigbar. Oh, and I won't tell the Organization about you. I'm actually thinking of joining you."

You nodded, but the sarcasm came out anyway, "Right.."

You both disappeared without any further notice.

-BowandArrow-BowandArrow-BowandArrow-

When you arrived back at the house everyone was still in a panic. You wondered why they couldn't see you and then you remembered the portals the Organization used. You put your hand out in front of you and imagined a portal to appear and it did so. All four of the gang looked startled as you walked towards them. You gave them a shy grin and waved, "Heya guys. I'm back."

None of them moved and you cocked your head to the side. Demyx ran up to you and embraced you in a hug, "You're alright!"

You nodded, "Yeah, I am." You gasped and saw your reflection. You were wearing one of the Organization cloaks and a large bow was strapped to your back as well as a quiver. Although the quiver held nothing, you knew that you had an unlimited supply of arrows. How it was possible? You didn't know.

Before you could say anything to the others another portal opened. All five of you looked to the side and your eyes widened at who stepped through. It was that Xigbar guy.

He smiled and waved with a truck load of bags beside him, "What's up dudes?"

**TBC…**

**Melo: Hope you liked the weapon. I was trying to think of something that wasn't used and seeing as the Organization already has the basic stuff and I had to think hard. Bleh… Anyway, I hope you guys don't mind, but Xigbar is joining the crew! Woot! ^^ But wait…where's he going to sleep…? Tune in next time! ^^**


	13. New Allies

**Sorry guys, I know it's been a while since I've updated my story. This is the next chapter of the Chasing Shadows series. Gosh, I've missed writing this series. **

**New Allies**

You stared in disbelief at the Nobody standing in the doorway. Was he really an ally, or was he spy? Whatever he was Demyx, Axel, and Roxas didn't trust him. All three boys threw themselves in front of you and Namine, keyblades, sitar, and chakrams at the ready.

Demyx glared, "What are you doing here?"

Xigbar sighed, "Demyx, I'm here to fight. I'm here to become apart of the rebellion."

"Rebellion?" Roxas asked.

Xigbar nodded, "Yeah, that's what you're called at the castle."

Axel laughed, "Wouldn't be the first time I was in a rebellion."

Xigbar laughed as well and then noticed you. He cocked his head to the side to get a better view. You didn't glare, nor did you smile or smirk, you're face was deadpan. You didn't know what to think of this new Nobody in the midst. Not that he was new, but new to you.

He nodded his head towards you, "So this is the newborn, eh?"

Demyx moved closer to him ready to strike at any given moment, "What's it to you?"

Xigbar backed up a bit, "Calm down dude, I'm not here to fight."

Demyx smirked, "Like I haven't heard that one before."

"I'm being honest with you dude."

Demyx's smirk turned into pure rage and he scowled at the older Nobody, "Really now?! Are you really?? Xigbar, you kidnapped her and she was a hostage to you and the rest of those back-stabbing—

"Ah, ah, ah… Temper, Demyx. You aren't one to get so riled up about things like this."

You gasped as a gloved hand touched your neck and an arm draped down your left shoulder. You glanced to the left to see a man leaning on you, an Ace of Spades in between his index and middle finger. The other Nobodies and the newest 'member' Xigbar looked shocked as well. However, his shocked look quickly faded, unlike the rest of the group.

"Luxord, you old dog, you joined the rebellion too?"

The Nobody leaning on you removed his hood, which made his right arm wrap around your neck, revealing short blonde hair and earrings, "'Course mate, couldn't stand that bloke Xemnas any longer. Plus, I miss my brot-"

Demyx stepped forward, his look turning into pure aggression, "Get off of her. Don't say a word."

You looked from Demyx to Luxord. Demyx's eyes were practically blue flames, while Luxord's resembled more of a hurt look, "She doesn't know, does she?"

Demyx took another step forward, "I said, don't say a word and get off of her."

Luxord did as he said and easily and slowly got off of you. He then walked around you and stood in front of Demyx. They were so close you thought they could kiss. Not that you wanted to imagine that. Luxord still had the hurt look, but it had slightly changed for the better. Demyx, however, hadn't changed a bit. He was still aggressive and wasn't really on the defensive at all. You looked at Axel and the others. Namine held a worried expression and was gripping tightly on Roxas' hand. Roxas was shifting his eyes between Xigbar and Luxord, his hand clinched in a fist and ready to summon his keyblade and protect Namine at any given time. Axel on the other hand, was cool, calm, and collected. You had to ask if this guy was hardly ever fazed by any sort of attack. He had moved himself to where he was leaning against the wall, so where he could see everything. Xigbar, Roxas, and Namine were on his right, Luxord, Demyx, and you were on his left. If anything were to happen, he would catch it, but the question was would he act if anything happened. Even though the two, Xigbar and Luxord, were outnumbered, they still had the advantage. Demyx would defend you and Roxas defend Namine, they wouldn't attack. Axel was still a question.

You watched carefully as Demyx and Luxord did an unbearable staring contest. You wanted to move towards Demyx, but you feared that if you did you'd only get in his way. Luxord was the first to break the silence, "Does she know Demyx?"

You looked at Demyx, "Demyx, what is he talking about?"

Demyx shook his head, "It's not important."

Luxord's hurt look re-appeared, "It's not important Demyx? Is that how you feel now?"

Demyx's nose crinkled, his eyes were slightly black, and his sitar was summoned. Water started to flow around him in small streams, "That's how I've always felt, Luxord! Why should I feel any different?! Answer me that!!"

You flinched at his words and your heart…..well…. You didn't have one anymore, but you felt the nervousness that comes when two people are fighting. Demyx was wrapped in rage and it wasn't calming down.

You took a step towards him, your hand outstretched to touch him, to feel him, to let him know you were there, hoping to calm him down, "Demyx…please…calm down."

He turned on you quickly, "Don't get involved!!"

You were taken aback but regained yourself quickly, "Demyx! Aren't you taking this a bit far?"

He shook his head, "No, I'm not! You don't understand! You don't know what he's put me through, what he's done to me!"

Luxord glared at him, "Doesn't mean you take it out on her, Demyx."

Demyx looked back at him, "This wouldn't have happened if you wouldn't have showed up!"

You shook your head and glared at him, "Demyx, it doesn't matter, it happened anyway! Get over it!" You looked at both Xigbar and Luxord, "I believe they're here to help for real."

"I could've told you that before all this happened." Axel stood up off the wall and walked towards your group, "I called them."

All of you stared at him. Demyx glared at his friend walking towards him, "You WHAT???"

You walked to Demyx and grabbed a hold of his arm, "Calm down! You throwing a fit isn't getting us anywhere!"

He shrugged you off, "Why'd you call them here?"

Axel shrugged, "Because I can, that's why." He cocked his head and grinned at Demyx, "Plus, isn't it great to see family again?"

Demyx growled. You gave Axel a confused look, "Family?" You looked at Luxord who was currently occupied with a deck of cards. It then dawned on you, "You mean, Demyx…and Luxord…they're…?"

"Yes, we're brothers." Demyx growled slightly underneath his breath, "Well, we're brothers."

You heard a sigh from behind you and turned to Luxord, "Demyx, we were brothers as Somebodies and we'll be brothers as Nobodies as well."

Demyx turned on him, "Why should we?! You didn't care about me then, why should I believe you'd care about me now?!"

Luxord seemed to be looking for an answer.

"Exactly, you don't have reason." Demyx looked away and then looked at Xigbar, "Fine, if you guys want to be here, then just fine." His icy gaze went back to Luxord, "Just keep him away from me."

With that he stormed off, shoving Luxord out of the way and not looking back at the small group.

"Aw, don't let it get to you Lux." Xigbar had a toothpick in his mouth and was chewing on it, "Demyx just needs time. You know what they say, time will heal."

Luxord shook his head and flicked a card away, "I don't think that's going to happen. I murdered him…" He looked at Axel, "Where will I be staying?"

Namine spoke up, Roxas was holding her hand, still on the defensive. "You'll be sleeping upstairs with the rest of us. I put you and Xigbar in the same room. It's the second door on the right."

_Crap, _you thought, _that's right next to me and Demyx. But wait, does this mean Namine knew they were coming?  
_He nodded at her, "Thanks love."

At the word _"love" _Roxas's upper lip twitched slightly.

With that, Luxord bowed slightly and walked upstairs. You hoped that he wouldn't run into Demyx, knowing it would mean immediate trouble. You looked at Xigbar who just shrugged and talked to Axel, while Namine told a now upset Roxas that everything was going to be alright. Apparently these two guys could be trusted. You weren't exactly sure of that however. You looked at the card that Luxord had flicked away and neglected to pick up. You kneeled down and picked it up. The back of the card was white and black with the Nobody symbol on it, something you had learned was a bad sign. The small group, now known as the Rebellion, wouldn't use that symbol. The five of you, guessing now seven, were going to make a new symbol. But seeing as he had just got here, you saw Luxord as no threat. You flipped the card over and stared at it before putting it in your pocket and walking upstairs.

It was the Ace of Hearts…

You went upstairs quietly, not wanted to disturb the others downstairs who had finally acknowledged Xigbar as an ally not a threat. As you reached the top of the stairs you heard whispers. You closed your eyes as you listened to the two different voices. You knew exactly who they were. You took the turn in the upstairs mini-game room and walked down the hallway where the six rooms and one bathroom were. The voices were getting louder now and you could tell that one of the voices was trying to calm the others. More or likely Luxord was trying to calm Demyx down.

You thought to yourself that eavesdropping was wrong, but then again, you seemed to have the skill to be sneaky real well, so you figured it wouldn't hurt. Plus, you and Demyx are a serious couple, you should know what's going on and he shouldn't be keeping secrets from you. You leaned in to the door and pressed your ear against it.

"I don't want you here!"

"Shh, Dem, really, why can't you-

"Don't you dare say put the past behind me! I've been through hell because of you! And don't call me Dem!"

You heard Luxord sigh, "Demyx…I…I can't take back what I've done, but I wish I could. Honestly I do. I didn't mean to.."

Demyx snorted, "You didn't mean to? Luxord, you left me to die! Now, look where I am!!"

You gasped and covered your mouth while backing away from the door. Luxord was the person responsible for Demyx's death? No wonder you had a funny feeling about this guy. But, you couldn't understand it. Why would Luxord leave his own brother to die? Or to be a victim to those Heartless?

Fortunately for you, Demyx nor Luxord had heard your gasp and the conversation continued, "Demyx, I-

"I don't want to hear your excuses! You left me! I was just a kid Luxord and you left me alone!"

How long had Demyx been a Nobody? Did they grow in these bodies? Was it possible? Were you going to grow older? Look different? Was it physically possible?

"Demyx, I'm sorry, really I am. It's been years and now.."

"What you want me to forgive you just because we're in the same boat now?" You could almost see Demyx shake his head, "I don't think so."

"Little brother, please.."

"Don't call me little brother! I have no relation to you anymore!"

Before you could move, Demyx threw the door open. Your face was at his waist and you slowly looked up. His eyes were as wide as saucers and he was blushing furiously at your current position. You blushed as well.

"H-hey sweetie." You stuttered.

"What are you two doing?"

Demyx turned around and you stood up, both of you bright red, "Nothing!"

Luxord cocked an eyebrow, "Nothing..?"

Demyx growled, "Doesn't matter, we're leaving."

You pushed Demyx back in, "Demyx, I think we should talk." You looked at Luxord, "All three of us."

Demyx growled at you, "Some other time, I'm leaving." He pushed past you and you heard him slam the door to your room.

Both you and Luxord sighed, "Don't worry about him, (your name). What you heard was true, it is my fault that he's what he is now."

You shrugged, "It still doesn't give him the right."

"He has all the right," Luxord materialized a card in between his index and middle finger and began twirling it, "He has all the right in the world."

You leaned against the wall, "May I hear the story then?"

Luxord glanced at you and then went back to playing with his card, "You won't enjoy it."

You shrugged, "That's not the point. The point is to settle the dispute and help you two out."

He seemed baffled at your response, "Why would you do that? Don't you know Demyx will only-

"I can handle Demyx. Plus, I have a right to know don't I? I'd like to know what I'm getting mixed into before….well….if it even happens."

This time the gambler smiled, "Before he pops the question, eh?"

You gave him a half smile, "Yeah, that."

Luxord smirked and sat on the bed, "Then I suggest you get comfortable, it's a long tale."

You pulled the chair from desk and sat down, "I'm all ears."

**TBC...**


	14. Demyx's Past

**Melo: I APOLOGIZE FOR NOT UPDATING SOONER! FORGIVE ME! TT^TT Ahem… Anyway. I had cousins from Idaho down the Christmas so I didn't have a lot of time alone and school has taken up my time, but now, I'm here with the next chapter of Chasing Shadows. **

**P.S. I have a BIG favor to ask of all of you. You see, I'm a Roxas cosplayer and my friend is Sora. She says Sora is cuter than Roxas and I say Roxas is cuter than Sora, so I'm posting a poll for you fans to decide. If you could get other friends and those who don't read Chasing Shadows to vote it would be much appreciated. I'm keeping the poll up for 2-3 weeks. In a way, it's pointless, but it would be nice! **

**Pst! Vote for Roxas! ^_^**

**Demyx's Past**

"It was over ten years ago, about fourteen to be precise." Luxord started out. You sat in the chair, not taking your eyes off of him. He was looking down, deep in thought, "I was only twenty at the time, Demyx, which his name was Myde, was fourteen. Our parents had left for one of their anniversary trips. They left for a week or two at a time for the wedding anniversary. I was in charge, as usual. Demyx was out of school and staying bored at our house." Luxord chuckled slightly at the thought, "He wasn't much of an 'go play outside kid.', you see. I remember constantly teasing him how he complained about being bored and then never wanting to go anywhere and how he'd have to start doing something because mother and father weren't always going to be there, but he'd always come back and say 'But Dulor, which was my name at the time, you're twenty and still stay here.'. I would always get mad at him for it, but in truth I felt just the same as him. I didn't want to let go of home, it felt too soon. Of course, I had my own house and all. Then again, moving to a different sea is hard on a person."

You blinked and shook your head, taken aback, "A different sea?"

"Oh, I apologize," He smiled at you, "We were Atlantians. I was told I should move to a different sea than the Atlantic. Didn't really want to…"

Your eyes went wide, "But you guys were-

"Mermen? Yes." He nodded.

"Wow…" You sat there in awe.

Luxord laughed, "Well, if you want to know more about that, I had the tail of a Orange-Bac or also known as the Orange Back Fairy Wrasse, which was what my father was, while Myde was a Blue Streak Damsel, like our mother. You see, us Merpeople were classified by fish, because of our tails, nothing else. We could be with whoever we wanted to at any given time, unlike fish." He cleared his throat, "But that's off topic."

His eyes seemed to sink, "Anyway, our parents were gone and Myde was restless. He was always a get up and go kid. Hyper to a fault, I could never control him without getting aggressive."

He continued the story and you nodded listening to every word. Paying close attention, until….

_~Atlantica - - - - - - - - 14 years ago - - - - - - - - Flashback~_

_"C'mon Dulor, I'm bored! Lets go do something!" Myde yelled from his resting point on one of the large clam like recliners they had. He poked at some of the bubbles from one of their mother's air vase. At each pop he laughed, trying to entertain himself. But soon, even the bubbles bored him. He sat up again, "Dulor!!!" _

_Down the hallway, the second room on the left, Dulor flicked his bright red and blue tail underneath the covers and pulled the pillow over his head more. He groaned trying to drown out his younger brothers noise. _

_"Duuuuuuuuuullllllooooorrrrr!!!!!!!!"_

_Dulor ripped some of his pillow with his nails, clinging onto it so hard. __**Wouldn't be the first time**__, he thought, __**Myde always finds a way to annoy me. **__The noise stopped and he loosened his grip on the pillow. Peace and quiet. A small smile was brought to his face. That was, until he heard his door being slammed open. _

_He was about to throw his pillow at the door when he was suddenly tackled. He let out a grunt as his smaller, fourteen year old brother jumped on top of him. Dulor bucked him off before he could do anything and flipped over and hit him with the pillow, "Myde, shut up!" _

_The smaller merman glared at the older, "That hurt!" _

_Dulor, pulling his pillow back on his bed and laying down again, rolled his eyes and snorted, "Well, don't bother me then." _

_"But I'm bored!" Myde complained._

_"Sounds like a personal problem." _

_Myde sniffed at his brother and looked around his brother's room. It was in all black and white, even his sheets, although they had a little red on them. They were different card symbols: Clubs, Hearts, Diamonds and Spades. He looked in front of the bed where his brother's desk was. He quietly swam over to them and gently opened a drawer. Inside were different decks of cards that Dulor had gotten from all different parts of the sea. Their parents had gotten him a deck from each place they went for anniversary. Myde received different picks for his Sitar. He shuffled through the decks and passing up a chance to dig through his brother's wallet, found Dulor's favorite deck. Their dad had gotten it for him five years ago, they were black, white, and red but they were see-through and had his initials engraved on the edges. Custom made, Dulor was ecstatic! _

_Myde took the cards out and a grin fell over his face. These would definitely lure Dulor out of his slumber. He shut the door and opened the door and held the cards above his head, "Hey Dulor, lookie what I got!" _

_Dulor sat up, his eyes nearly glowing as orange-red as his tail and turned to look at his brother. His eyes going wide, but flames dancing in them, "Don't you even think about it."_

_Myde shrugged and swam out the door, "Too late!" _

_Dulor, mad as anything, bucked and flipped the covers off of him and swam after his younger brother. The little blue merman was fast, swimming over the table and through one of the open windows of the house, which he was able to fit through. He turned to see if his brother had done anything or if it was a failed attempt. He sat on a rock quite a distance from the house and watched. A couple of small seapony's passed by and he playfully pet one. He was drawn from his fun when his brother threw the door open, which slammed against the wall scaring the seapony's away, and swam at top speed at his younger brother. Myde yelped and swam as fast as he could while dodging other merpeople, fish, and objects. His older brother fast on his tail, literally, Myde did the only thing he could do; hide. He hid underneath a green batch of seaweed that had grown close together. What made it better was that it was a field of seaweed. He felt there was no way Dulor would be able to find him. He would wait for Dulor to leave, and cool off, and then he would play in the fields for a while and then go home. Simple and easy plan. _

_He remained as still as possible as Dulor swam by. The orange-red and blue tail flew by in a blur. Myde shuddered, Dulor was definitely mad this time. He was almost positive that the seaweed he was swimming through was sizzling as his elder brother went by. _

_After a while he heard Dulor cuss, "Forget this Myde! I'll be waiting when you get home!" _

_Myde saw his brother swim by again, not nearly as fast this time, but still red hot with anger. As soon as Dulor was a safe distance he laughed and flipped through the deck of cards, "Too easy." _

_Swimming amongst the weeds he flipped the cards in the air and caught them one by one. Just simple bored play, nothing more, nothing less. He was laughing to himself when a shadow appeared over him. He looked up to see a large pod of orcas passing by. Packing the cards down neatly he swam towards the pod, ready for adventure. Once among them he gently grabbed on to one of the whales dorsal fins and hung on for the ride. The whale agitatedly shook him off and he was flown to another whale, which briefly passed him up. With a mischievous grin on his face, Myde grabbed a hold of the tail fin and hung on to dear life as the whale swung the large tail up and down to fling him off. Losing his grip, Myde was once again thrown onto another whale, hitting it on the nose, and catching it by surprise. Unfortunately, it was a young whale, and the adult orcas began to swarm like hornets. _

_Myde grimaced, "Uh oh.." _

_The larger mammals came at him and proceeded to whip at him with their tails and many attempted to eat him. The small merman was no match to them whatsoever and tried his hardest to flee the scene. However, the adult whales wouldn't let him go so easily. One of the large female orcas, more or likely the mother of the young whale came at him with more vehemence than any of the others. She made a large cry and rammed herself into Myde, hurting the boy severely. Myde was worried for his health, but then things got worse. He had let go of his brothers' cards and they were now flying into the pod of whales. The whales, not enjoying the fact that 'projectiles' were now coming from the young merman, snapped at the cards and ate, and or, tore quite a few of them up. Myde gasped in horror. This wasn't supposed to happen! It was just supposed to be a simple game of keep away! His brother was going to kill him!_

_He scrambled back up to the whales, dodging many of them and grabbed as many of the cards as he could. He tore some from the mouths of the smaller whales, not daring to try and get the ones from the larger whales, fearing for his own life, and then swam away. Scared to stay, but even more scared to go home. _

_~*~*~*~*~*~_

_Back at home, Dulor waited impatiently for Myde to arrive. He a 'lovely' surprise waiting for the brat. He sat in the chair, reading the daily newspaper with a large scowl on his face. In fact, he wasn't even reading the newspaper; he was just trying to look natural. He was too angry and frustrated to even think about reading! This wasn't the first time that Myde had taken his cards, but it would be the last. He was tired of Myde doing stupid pranks to his valuables. He clinched his fist on the paper and nearly ripped it. His little brother had been getting on his nerves ever since their parents had left. He flung food at him during any meal, he constantly poked at him for the heck of it, when Dulor was sleeping he'd wake him up for no reason, the list was endless! Myde was just a big nuisance and if he had any say in it, he would get rid of his little brother faster than you can say "Bon Voyage"!_

_It wasn't a minute later that Myde came sheepishly through the door. He didn't notice his older brother sitting there, his back away from him, and he shut the door. He looked at the cards with worry; he'd have to find a way to fix them. They were Dulor's favorite cards! He got teary-eyed as he touched the edges of one of the cards that a whale had all but gotten. Dulor was not going to be happy with him at all. But, he had to let Myde explain what had happened. It wasn't entirely his fault. It was a mistake. He didn't mean his brother's cards any harm whatsoever. He was swimming to his bedroom when he heard someone clear their throat. He yelped and hid the cards behind his back as Dulor turned around, throwing the newspaper aside, and swam towards him, arms folded and the anger still in his eyes. _

_"Where the HELL have you been?" The elder cursed at him. _

_Myde just backed up to the wall, and hung his head in shame, "I just…wanted to play." _

_Dulor scowled, "Yeah, well, I didn't want to. I was sleeping. And you, you woke me up, snuck into my room, jumped on top of me, stole my cards, and then swam off. Yeah, sounds like playing to me." He said sarcastically, "Hmph. Sounds more like a thief to me." _

_Myde said nothing, still looking down and not into his brothers' eyes. He was too afraid to look into them. _

_Dulor held out a hand, "The cards."_

_Myde looked at his brother's hand, "I…"_

_"My. Cards." Dulor said between gritted teeth._

_Myde sighed and put the cards in his brother's hands. He saw his brother's eyes go wide and then swear that he felt his brother's heart start beating faster. He looked into his brother's eyes, pleading, "It was an accident. There was a pod of whales and I tried to get away but they attacked me because I accidently scared one of the young and I-_

_He was cut off by his brother, "You destroyed them! This…This was my prized possession and you destroyed it!"_

_Myde shivered under his brothers cold eyes, "I'm sorry."_

_Dulor shook with rage, "Oh, you will be." _

_Dulor grabbed his brother before he could swim away and threw him onto the couch. Myde scrambled to get away but his brother grabbed a hold of him and threw him over his lap. Dulor held the younger merman there firmly and swatted the scaled bottom. The younger boy let out a yelp and squirmed in place._

"_Let me go!"_

_Dulor shook his head, "Right. Like I'm going to do that after what you've done." _

_**Smack! Smack! Smack!**_

_Myde starting bucking his place, tears beginning to form from his eyes, "S-stop! I didn't mean to! H-honest!" _

_Dulor snorted, "Yeah," __**Smack! **__"right…" __**Smack! **_

_Myde sobbed, tears streaming down his face. His brother continued to punish him with an iron fist. When Myde felt that his brother was relaxing his hand, he bucked up, his tailfin hitting his brother in the face, and swam out the front door, running away from the unfair punishment. Dulor grabbed his nose, which was hit fairly hard and winced. Opening his eyes, he saw nothing but red again. He swam out the door following his brother again. _

_Myde, eyes filled with tears continues to swim, not looking back this time. He was going to run away and wasn't going to return; probably not even returning when his parents arrived. He would just let Dulor explain or come up with some lie about what happened to him to tell their parents. It was that simple. However, he had no idea where he'd go or what he could do. He swam with incredible speed over rocks and into large crevices. He swam to the deepest darkest corner he could find and sat laid down on the rocky seafloor. He cried to himself, sobbing to be a better word for it. _

_Dulor swam above the crevice looking every which way. Looking down, he swam down examining things closely. Feeling the presence of his younger brother, and hearing his cries, he finally arrived at a corner, but not being able to hear or see anything. The cries had stopped no doubt because of his presence. _

"_Alright Myde, fine! Stay down here and rot for all I care! You're worthless to me! You understand me?! Worthless!" _

_Myde whimpered but didn't care what his brother said. It didn't matter any more. Not to him. He stared into the darkness behind him, just gazing into nothingness. He closed his eyes, curled himself up and shuddered. _

"_Heart……………Heart…………"_

_Myde's eyes shot open. He was met with a pair of large yellow eyes. He sat up and scooted away, not wanting to let out a yelp, scared that his brother would hear. _

"_Heart………………Want……Heart………Heart………Want………Want…"_

_A large green creature appeared with a green triton in its hands. It stared at Myde, pointing it's triton at him, "Heart…………" _

_More eyes appeared following the leader and other creatures appeared and surrounded him. Myde backed away as fast as he could and stared wide eyed. Then… they attacked. _

_Dulor heard a loud scream and turned around, just as he was about to leave. He saw his brother's figure appear from the shadows and over one hundred creatures following him. He watched, eyes widening as his brothers body disappeared underneath the many sea-heartless. He knew full well what they were and knew there was no hope. He stared, unable to move, and eyes unfilled with concern. _

_Myde saw his brothers figure and reached out to him, batting some of the heartless away, "Dulor! Help me!" He pleaded, new tears filling in his eyes, "Please! Big brother! Help me! I can't get them off!"_

_Dulor just sighed and looked away, turning his body away from the horrid scene and glided away back towards the opening of the crevice. Myde stared in horror as he felt the tritons and spear pierce his skin. He felt his chest being ripped open and he let out a horror filled scream._

_"Duuuuulllllooooorrrrr!!!!!!!"_

_-------------------End Flashback-------------------_

You stared at Luxord in awe, "You just… let him die?"

Luxord looked down and took a deep breath, "He didn't lie when he said it was my fault. I let him die… It's the truth. I was selfish, too caught up in my own worries to even care about my little brother."

You could've sworn that you saw a tear fall from the Nobodies cheek. Deep inside, you didn't know how to feel. You were sitting here talking to your lover's brother… and murderer. You felt sympathy for the man sitting in front of you but at the same time you felt anger. How could anybody, Somebody or Nobody, let another relative, a loved one, die in front of them without even attempting to help him out?

Before you could say anything, the door was opened. Both you and Luxord looked up to see Demyx, arm outstretched for you. He didn't take a single glance at his elder brother, "C'mon. There's trouble."

You took his hand in worry, looking at Luxord. The elder brother just nodded his head to you, saying you should go and that he would follow. You stood and walked out the door, Demyx by your side, pushing you along gently. He let go of you for a second and fell behind, to his brother's side. With the help of being a Nobody know, you could hear farther and better. Four words escaped Demyx's mouth to his brother and then he was right back at your side, left arm wrapped around your waist. You would've looked back at Luxord, but the hand that was wrapped around your waist, rose up to your chin and kept you from turning you head. You looked up at Demyx, who didn't look back. He stared into space not anger, sorrow, or happiness shown on his face. You looked ahead, those four words staying in your mind, and were repeated constantly.

"Stay away from her."

**TBC…**

**Melo: I have to apologize ahead of time. I'm going to finish my Chasing Shadows story first and then I'm going to finish Chasing Shadows: A Flame Inside. I apologize ahead of time. Please don't hurt me. **


	15. Time Running Short

**Melo: Hey guys! I'm officially a Senior now! Woot! So, since summer's here, guess what I'm doing! UPDATES! Hope you like it, because guess what. These are the last chapters of Chasing Shadows! Hope you loved the story!**

**Time Running Short**

As Demyx walked you into the kitchen, you couldn't help but feel like there was no air. It was tense. Everyone was talking, Namine in Roxas's arms, Axel beside Roxas with his arms folded across his chest. Xigbar was leaning on the hallway wall and another Nobody, you could tell by his cloak he was one, was sitting in one of the kitchen chairs. You glanced at Demyx to ask if he knew who the Nobody was but his mood hadn't changed since Luxord had appeared. Instead, you looked over the newcomer. He was short and had a large dark blue bang that covered one of his eyes. He was the only one that wasn't talking. He kept his head down and his eyes closed. Was all this trouble really coming from him?

Demyx walked to the bar in the kitchen and sat down on one of the bar seats. He pulled a chair and patted the seat for your presence. You sat down and glanced around. Everyone was back in the Organization XIII cloaks, all but you and Namine. You watched as Luxord walked in and stood next to Xigbar. He didn't take a single glance in your direction. It slightly bugged you, but at the same time, you had to give him credit. After all that both he and Demyx had been through, after what he had done, he was keeping well on what Demyx told him. He wasn't going to go anywhere near you. You gave a little sigh and turned to look at Demyx.

"What's wrong?"

"Zexion will explain when everything has calmed down." He nodded towards the smaller new Nobody.

"Can we trust him?" you whispered, "I mean, he just came out of nowhere with bad news? Couldn't it be a trap?"

Demyx shrugged, "That's true, but, we all have the feeling he's not lying. Zexion isn't exactly fond of Xemnas."

You gave a small skeptical look, "Fondness doesn't mean that he's fearless. He could've been threatened or something. Forced against his will."

He smirked, "Sorry if I doubt you."

Before you could answer, there was a clearing of throat. You both turned and Zexion glanced at all of you, "I'm sure everyone knows why I'm here." He then gazed at you, "Everyone except you, I suppose."

As all eyes turned on you, you felt a shiver go down your spine. You weren't much for attention and especially in this situation. However, you stood your ground and didn't show signs of irritation or fear and simply nodded, "I'm sorry, but I'm new to all this. But I'm pretty sure that the reason you're here is because of bad news. Nothing good, I'm sure of that."

He nodded, "You're semi-informed." He stood and walked towards a wall and picked at one of the magnetic pictures of the original five of you living there and then turned looking back at the crowd, "The Organization is coming. They have a large army. Dancers, Magicians, Berserkers, Dusks, everything. They care little of what happens to those who get in their way. They're coming for us and they want us all destroyed. There are a few in their midst that want to join up with us but-

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." Axel jumped in and took a few steps towards the smaller Nobody, "Why do you keep saying 'us'? You're not on this team. For all we know you're a spy! A small piece of the-

"I warn you Axel, don't get on my bad side." The smaller took a step towards the fire bender, "Things could only turn for the worst for you."

Axel snorted, "Uh-huh, right, I'll believe it when I see it."

The Cloaked Schemer summoned a black book and it flipped to a random page and his eyes glowed slightly, "How would you like to be turned inside out a feel the pain as your pores were being turned to liquid and your muscles harden like stone."

You could feel Axel stiffen but his face remained the same. Not phased and not afraid. The smaller, blue haired nobody lifted his hand and it glowed a dark shade of black and red together. You saw Axel's skin tan quite a bit. It scared you and you shivered in place. Axel hardly seemed to notice, or pretended not too.

That was when you noticed and remembered Zexion's threat. _"…your muscles harden like stone."_

Axel wasn't pretending anything. He was truly frozen.

As the blood began to pour, you winced and turned away, frightened of what was going to happen to your friend. The other Nobodies stood watching in horror but with little to no sympathy for the friend. It dawned on you that they two could possibly be affected by Zexion's cold and unappealing threat.

You turned back and yelled as loud as you could, "Stop it! What kind of monster are you?"

Zexion lowered his hand and the glow stopped. His cold, icy blue eyes stared straight into your soul, whatever was left of it. Axel's skin turned back to normal and he fell to the ground holding onto his wrists still bloody. Zexion advanced on you, as you stood your ground.

"Number fourteen." He nodded at your "existence", "Or should I say, replacement number fourteen?" (1)

You shook your head, "I'm not a member of your Organization and I will never be. Don't put me in your crowd. Ever."

He smirked, "For one so young, you have much knowledge. You are smart not to join the Organization." He chuckled, "But not smart enough to stay away from the darkness and curse of the Nobodies. You joined us without thinking."

You growled at him and felt Demyx put his arm around you, but you shrugged off his protective arms, "I was thinking. I knew what I wanted and I wanted to be with Demyx, Axel, Roxas, and Namine for time and all eternity. As a human being I couldn't do that. I would grow old and die. As a Nobody, I have a long and faithful existence to them. I can stay with them and see many years, but not age at all."

Zexion nodded thoughtfully, "This is true, but having a non-existent life isn't as great as it should be."

Demyx pushed you behind him, "You're making more enemies here than you are friends."

Zexion nodded, "It's natural for a Nobody to make more enemies than friends. We're alone in this world except for the Organization." He looked out to the rest of the small group, "Which of course, thanks to you six, is now coming to it's immanent destruction."

Xigbar laughed, "Immanent indeed, number six, but as long as I'm not going down with it, it's all good."

Luxord nodded in his agreement, "Destruction of the Organization means freedom for the rest of us."

You could only nod as the other began to agree with Xigbar and Luxord. The Organization's fall would bring joy to everyone, hearts or no hearts. None of you would be able to live in a safe atmosphere until Xemnas and his few were destroyed.

"It's more than a few, I'm sorry to tell you."

You looked at the Cloaked Schemer and he sighed, "Xemnas not only has the power of the other Organization members still loyal to him, but he also has the whole army of lifeless and thoughtless Nobodies as well. We are against an army and six complete and powerful military commanders."

Roxas cocked an eyebrow and spoke up, "I think you've miscounted. There should be seven military commanders over there. Seven, including you, plus their seven equals fourteen."

Zexion shook his head, "I meant to say six, Number Thirteen-

Roxas shot a glare at him, "My name is Roxas."

Zexion nodded, "Roxas. I meant six military leaders. I DON'T miscalculate. There is one other left in the Organization that is now loyal to us."

Axel chuckled, "Marluxia? He's always wanted to get his grimy little hands on being a leader."

Zexion shook his head, "Lexaeus is coming over with us. We have the same view points."

Luxord turned a card casually between his fingers, "And you're sure about this?"

Zexion nodded, "Lexaeus and I have been paired up for many missions and we've become much like friends. I assure you, we can trust him."

To you, it seemed a little fishy. The Organization members were just popping up like flies…Annoying flies. You didn't trust this Zexion character. He was shady and suspicious, not that many of the others weren't, but he gave you an aura that seemed…dangerous; deadly even.

Demyx, feeling your body tense up and looking upon the dark look on your face, pulled you closer to him, "It's alright." He whispered in your ear, "We can trust him."

You couldn't agree with him at this point in time, "I'll believe it when I see it."

The comment came out louder than you had anticipated. Zexion turned to you and smirked, "Well, then, you'll have to wait until the time comes. I will prove to be useful to you."

You smirked back, "I'll be waiting for that day."

Roxas sighed, "Unfortunately for us, that day seems to be dawning a lot faster than we want it to."

Axel raised an eyebrow, "When did you become the little offspring of a gentleman? "Unfortunately for us, that day seems to be dawning a lot faster than we want it to."? What was that?"

Namine giggled as the two began to argue. You chuckled as well and looked at Demyx for the same reaction. In truth, he had a smile on his face, but his eyes read differently. Roxas was right. The time of a great and terrible battle would soon be approaching.

* * *

You laid in your bedroom, wide awake, hands behind your head, half covered in the sheets, and staring up at the ceiling. You sighed loudly. Things were coming together. Unfortunately, that involved fighting, not exactly a strong point, but it had to be done. You heard a knock at the door and sat up.

"(Your name)? It's me…Demyx."

"Come in."

He walked in the door and sat on the edge of the bed. He stared down at the quilt, playing with one of the fuzzies on the blanket. You could tell he was irritated, uncomfortable, and discouraged. He didn't want you to be apart of this. It was obvious.

"Demyx, I-"

He put his hand up to silence you, "I know you're going to fight me and I know you probably aren't going to listen to me when I say, I don't want you to go there."

You nodded, your arms wrapped around your knees, pulling them to your chest, "You're right, I'm going to. I refuse to be left behind." Demyx looked into your eyes, "Better left behind than dead."

"Technically, I'm already dead."

He sighed and moved his head around, irritated, "Okay, let me rephrase that. Better left behind than faded." You stared into his eyes and he stared right back, completely serious, "You could fade and I would never, EVER, see you again. Aren't you afraid of that?" You didn't sigh, nor did you take a breath, "Nothing will happen to me."

"This is a battle, (your name). You could easily be distracted."

"I won't have a distraction." You argued.

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really."

"And what if something happens to someone else? Roxas or Namine get hurt? What then?"

You sighed, "I guess that would be a distraction. I'd try and help them."

He nodded, "Exactly."

You looked away, "I'm still going." You said defiantly.

Demyx sighed, "No convincing-

"Nope." You shook your head.

He nodded and got up, "Sleep well. We have a long day ahead of us."

**TBC…. **

(1) Xion, whom I don't like, is the original 14th member. I'd look her up if you want to know more.


	16. The War Begins

****

The War Begins

You can't remember much. You blinked and looked around. You were in the same situation as months before…in a cold room, but this room was dark…You could barely see your own nose. Every breath you took was painful and you shivered in the cold room. You could see your breath even. It was so horrifically cold. You could feel that you were still in your underwear only. So they had changed you into clothes that would expose you to the cold, unfeeling temperature.

Then you felt something sticky and wet roll down your body in various spots. Your chest hurt and the liquid felt good but at the same time, weakened you. Your legs felt the same way, covered in it. You could barely move the liquid somewhat dry on your sore back. You tasted the liquid as it ran down your face. It wasn't sweat. It was blood. You gasped, and it was painful, as if your lungs had been attacked and stabbed by needles.

You heard laughter. You recognized it as a girls and looked up, hoping to see anything. You heard the clicking of her boots and then it stopped. You blinked, and waited for something, anything. It was exactly what you expected when three sharp and long daggers lodged themselves into your skin. You were too weak to yell out in pain and instead just gasped. That was hard enough to perform.

The laughter joined your gasp, "That's what you get. Joining up with water-boy, you poor baby. You didn't have a chance the moment you were born."

You winced and your body shook, in rage or because of the cold you weren't sure. You were almost positive it was of both. You glared in the darkness, hoping the daggers your eyes were shooting would pierce the Nobody in front you.

Larxene laughed, "I have some terrible news for you."

"_And you laugh about that?" _You thought, _"You truly are a sick being."_

You felt her lips touch your ears and you struggled in your bonds. She chuckled, "He's dead."

* * *

_You sniffed the air. Smoke. Fire. The building was on fire._

_

* * *

_

You froze. Larxene stayed in place. You could feel the cruel smile on her face. You could picture the scene perfectly, your eyes wide.

She smiled and repeated herself, "Demyx is dead."

* * *

_You ran from your room and rushed to Demyx's room. Nothing. You called for his name. Screamed as loud as you could. Nothing._

_

* * *

_

You gasped, "I don't believe your lies."

She smirked, "It's no lie."

* * *

_Luxord tackled you to the ground and covered your head as large spikes came from the walls barely missing his head. _

"_What's going on?"_

"_We're under attack. Quickly, crawl towards the stairs."_

_

* * *

_

"Prove it to me." It hurt to talk and you gasped for breath.

"Hmmph." She scoffed and walked away from you, lights coming on and blinded you shortly. When you finally opened your eyes, they widened in horror.

* * *

_You crawled towards the stairs as ordered and carefully watched all angles. You saw fire spit out and electricity zap across the room. _

_

* * *

_

Demyx's sitar leaned against the wall. It's normal electric blue figure was chipped and spotted purple and red. Blood.

* * *

_Your bow appeared in your hands and you pulled the string back, aiming at Vexen, you remembered him from the kidnapping. The black tipped arrow materialized on the bow string and you released._

_

* * *

_

Salt water immediately ran from your eyes and you blinked them away, "It's not possible… It can't be… No…"

* * *

_The arrow hit it's target and Vexen screamed in pain. You smirked and jumped in the fray to aid your companions._

_

* * *

_

Larxene's smirk stayed as she watched your misery. Vexen laughed, his arm hurt and bandaged. You growled at them, scowl on face, "YOU MONSTERS!"

Larxene grinned wickedly, "And you're one of us now."

* * *

_Demyx jumped beside you, shooting a wave of water at Larxene. She yelped and jumped out of the way as you shot an arrow that grazed her leg._

* * *

Tears began to run down your cheeks, "I'LL NEVER BE ONE OF YOU!"

Vexen laughed, "That's what you think for now."

* * *

_Roxas fought Xaldin, defending Namine. Demyx turned to you, "Get Namine out of here! Find Sora!"_

* * *

As they left, Larxene kicked the already battered and bruised sitar. As it hit the ground, it shattered like glass. Pieces going everywhere.

* * *

"_I won't leave without you!"_

* * *

You cried silently to yourself, "It can't be true….It just can't."

* * *

"_Get out of here! Things are going to get crazy! I'll be right behind you when we gain control!"_

* * *

You looked at the silver ring that sat on your finger and hiccupped loudly, "I can't believe it…I won't…"

* * *

"_Demyx! You won't if we leave!"_

"_Namine can't defend herself! Take her and get out!"_

* * *

Your crying got louder, "Demyx…You couldn't….You wouldn't leave me…"

* * *

_You growled in protest and then dodged the fire, ice, and electricity and grabbed Namine. She gasped in fear and then looked into your eyes, "We have to get out of here!"_

"_I won't leave Roxas!"_

* * *

"Demyx…What happened?"

* * *

_You pulled her arm, latching on tightly, "We have no choice!" The portal opened and you flung her inside._

* * *

"What happened?" You hiccupped and cried, "Demyx, what happened?"

* * *

_You looked back before entering the portal and stared at Demyx, eyes begging him to let you stay. A beam of ice hit beside him and he waved at you to get a move on, eyes demanding and dark._

* * *

The cold began getting to you, Goosebumps covered your body, your nails were blue, the moisture coming from your eyes and nose were beginning to freeze. It hurt to breathe.

* * *

_You rushed in the portal, catching Namine and began to take her away. The only thing you knew about Sora, was Destiny Island. It was your only hope._

* * *

You coughed up blood that almost froze instantly in your lips. You knew for a fact that if you weren't a Nobody, you'd be dead. But maybe that was better.

* * *

_The two of you raced towards the open shadow to Destiny Islands. You were a few feet away when it disappeared and a figure in a black cloak appeared. You pushed Namine behind you, bow at the ready an arrow knocked on it._

* * *

You'd be with Demyx right now if you were a human. Because you'd be dead. And if Demyx was dead…then that's where you wanted to be. With him.

* * *

_The figure drew two identical lazer like blades and pointed one at you, "Co-operate and I'll make sure the little witch lives a fairly longer time than you."_

_You growled, "Not a chance!"_

* * *

Living was a complete and total waste of time and energy if it couldn't be spent by the side of the person you loved.

* * *

_He attacked you, blades at the ready, jumping into the air. You fired an arrow at him and the true war began._

* * *

You hung your head down, mouth open, unable to close for fear you wouldn't be able to open it back up thanks to the freezing temperature. Your bangs covered your face and your tears had stopped. There wasn't much left you could do.

* * *

_The arrow missed it's target, because of his lucky dodge. You followed his every move, shooting arrows out as you went. _

* * *

You coughed and shivered all the more. The iron chair you sat in didn't do much better for you. You felt that any sudden movement would pull the frozen skin clean from your body and leave it on the chair.

* * *

_You opened a second portal and pushed Namine through it to Destiny Island and sealed it shut._

* * *

You felt yourself being pulled into the darkness as the lights flickered on and off, on and off, and then finally going completely out.

* * *

_When you turned back around, the blades landed across your throat slicing into you. Was this the end?_

* * *

You sighed in the darkness and closed your eyes. It was hopeless.

**TBC…**


	17. When Past Meets Present

**Where Past Meets Present**

Demyx coughed up blood and breathed in the soot and dirt underneath him. He coughed heavily and tried to sit up, failing altogether. He panted, his muscles shaking underneath him, as he tried again to get up. He fell, the scum underneath him turning into a cloud around him. He winced and, closing his eyes to keep the dirt from getting into them, and then rolled onto his back.

He gasped out in pain and tried to make himself more comfortable. His limbs were numb and barely able to be used to help him. The taste of copper filled his mouth and he spit blood out and licked his lips, mentally begging the taste to go away. Of course, then he realized that the taste of blood was the least of his problems. He looked around. Nothing. Not one person was around. He sat up, yelping out in pain, continuing to look at his surroundings. The whole house, was burnt to the ground. The stairs were no longer there. An electric spark or two still bounced around the ground. A few flames flickered as well, nothing lethal.

He coughed, "(your name)…?"

No reply.

He called again, louder. Your name echoed throughout the area.

"No…" He gasped, "Axel! Roxas! Xigbar!"

No answer.

He stood up on shaking legs, barely able to balance himself, "Namine?"

"It can't be…"

"Demyx!"

Demyx turned around and saw the last person he wanted to see. Luxord. He went to turn away but Luxord's hand was already on his shoulder.

"Demyx, don't-"

Demyx shrugged him off, "Don't talk to me."

Luxord sighed, "Demyx-"

"No! I don't want to hear it from you!" Demyx turned, in pain and angered, "I don't care what you have to say! You screwed my life over and let those things kill me!"

"Demyx, that's not what this is-"

"You don't think I know that? But it's that little reason that I don't want your help!"

"Would you stop interrupting me?"

Demyx licked his blood stained lips and stared at the figure, grey from the ash.

Luxord sighed, "They've got your girlfriend. Namine took Roxas to Sora to get him healed up. Zexion is mortally wounded, Xigbar is taking care of him. Axel's… well, he's Axel.

"Now, you need to calm down, quit moving around, and let me help you. You're wounded and will possibly go in shock and-"

"I'll let Axel handle this." "I told you to stop interrupting me. Axel's fire and you're water, it won't-

"He's still a being that can control his ability mixing with mine."

"If you weren't hurt right now, I'd hit you for continuing to interrupt me."

Demyx growled, "You'd like that wouldn't you. To be able to hit me again."

Luxord sighed, "Can't we put the past behind us?"

"Maybe you can!" Demyx screamed, "But I can't! You killed me! You left me for dead!"

Luxord pleaded, "Demyx, please-"

"What'd you tell mom and dad huh? That I ran away from home after a fight? Huh? Did you tell them that you hit me and spanked me for something that was out of my control? Did you lie to our parents?"

"Demyx, I-"

"I wonder how mom and dad reacted to that?" He snarled at Luxord, "You let a CHILD die! And over a stupid deck of cards!"

_**SLAP!**_

Demyx fell to the ground, the shock of the slap ringing and stinging his whole body. Luxord stood over him, eyes dark and leering at him, "This isn't the problem at hand."

Demyx gasped in pain, wincing and closing his eyes.

"Your girlfriend was taken by the most ruthless group of people of the worlds. If you had grown up any bit, you would worry about her and not about the past. Who knows what things they've done to her."

He turned and left, towards what was left of the backyard. Axel turned by him and walked towards the Nocturne on the ground, "That sounded pleasant."

Demyx sighed and weakly got up and leaned against the wall, spitting blood out.

"Demyx, we need to go. She's in trouble."

**TBC…**

**Melo: I'm sorry that this one is short. There's not much to go with right now but it'll be there on the next chapter. It'll be long, promise! :)**


	18. It Ends Tonight

**Melo: That's right ladies and gentlemen, this is the LAST chapter of Chasing Shadows! But don't be sad, there will be an Epilogue and then I'll start writing those mini-fics many of you asked for. Don't think that I forgot those. But, by the way, Chasing Shadows: A Flame Inside is next! Then I'll finish my Finding Matt Engarde! Woot! **

**WARNING! THERE WILL BE VIOLENCE AND A SMALL RAPE SCENE THAT WILL BE IMPLIED. JUST GIVING A WARNING!**

**It Ends Tonight**

"The cold air. Chilling and hauntingly frigid. It pierces your fragile skin no matter where you turn. It hisses at your pain. It fines humor in your shivering. It is unlike anything you have ever experienced."

You looked up from your rag doll position on the chair and watched as a long, blonde haired figure slowly made his way towards you. Vexen, as you recalled, the Chilly Academic was the most hated of the group, but also one of the most vicious. His cold, unending winds and ice had made the past couple of days, or what felt like days, unbearable. You felt lucky you weren't human anymore, or you would be dead.

A smile came to his face as he neared you, "But of course, you are a Nobody now! The pain will come, no matter what, but it cannot kill you. Torturous, no? But, you are a powerful Nobody, aren't you Shadow Siren?"

You growled at him. It hurt your frozen throat and words were unable to form. It was impossible to talk. Breathing was hard enough.

He laughed at your attempt to sound threatening, "Your growls aren't menacing. They're pathetic."

Your teeth were grinding against each other in frustration. Vexen made his way towards you and put his face in yours, "We've got a surprise for you."

You raised your eyebrow at him, feeling your skin crack and bleed from being solid.

"Now, now, Scientist. Don't scare my delicate flower."

Both you and Vexen looked up. Marluxia, a tall man with thick flowing pink hair, a gentle but distrusting smile, but warm appearance. Your non-existent heart soared as you saw him walk in the room. The icy area melted around him and green grass flowed around, blooming pink roses, and bringing warmth.

Vexen snarled, "Marluxia, I have her now."

Marluxia smiled and holds his hands up in defense, "I apologize Jack Frost. I didn't mean to tread on your snow."

You couldn't help but smirk. Although you didn't trust him, Marluxia had a nice way of warming up the place. And you both had something in common. You both disliked Vexen.

Vexen hissed, "Watch yourself, Marluxia. This is my territory."

Marluxia closed his eyes shrugging and snapped his fingers. There was a burst of light and the room became blinding. Wind rushed around the three of you. You and Vexen held your eyes shut. You felt yourself defrost and warmth surging back through your body. As you opened your eyes, you gasped at the sight. The once cold, white room was now a beautiful garden. Roses covered the walls, the thorns were small and light green. The green grass filled the floor in a small design of a rose in the middle. Pink rose petals floated in the air.

"It's…" You started.

"Beautiful?" Marluxia asked with a smile, "I agree. Not my best work. But thank you for the compliment." He turned and smiled at you.

A blush would've crept to your face, he had beautiful facial features, but you were completely hooked on Demyx.

…Dead or Alive…

As your face went from amazed to sorrow, Marluxia's eyebrows furrowed and his own lips turned to a frown, "My dear flower, what troubles you?"

"Now see here, Marluxia, I had things planned for your _precious flower_. I have my lab- Gahh!"

You looked up as Marluxia's scythe was practically attached to Vexen's throat. His eyes were glowering, "Pathetic lab rat, how dare you refer to my flower with such venom?" He pushed the scythe further into the Academic's neck, "She is a precious daffodil, beautiful and shining. You _will_ show her respect."

You looked between the two and Vexen backed away, "Take your flower then." He walked away, slamming the white door shut.

Marluxia ignored him and looked back at you, the smile back on his face. You looked into his eyes. As nice as seeing a smiling face was, the eyes were mysterious. You couldn't tell if he was really trying to be nice or what his intentions were.

"Please, my little rose, would you grace me with your presence?" He undid the chains around you, and took your hand and lifted you to your feet. You fell into his chest, your feet unstable, and went to jerk back, when you felt his arms around you, pulling you close gentle and firm, "Do not fret. I will not hurt you." He smiled, "As Vexen did say," He put his mouth to your ear, "You are my precious flower."

* * *

Zexion finished wrapping Demyx's arm and stood, "There. This should hold you."

Demyx flexed his muscles and nodded, "Let's get going then."

Zexion looked up at him, "Demyx, we'll have to be quick but we'll have to be smart." He stood, "We can't go waltzing in the castle like we used to. We're traitors."

He walked around the room. They were staying in the garage, the only building not destroyed from the battle. Axel was leaning against the left wall, Luxord was sitting on a large metal box, hands in his hands, Xigbar was twirling a hammer on his fingers. Roxas, who had returned from getting Namine to safety, sat on the work table, looking down.

Demyx looked at him, "Then what do we do?"

Xigbar smirked, "I say we do a surprise attack."

They all looked to the Freeshooter. He laughed, "It's my specialty. I can think of a plan. It'll be pretty easy for me."

Zexion nodded, "I can insure the details. This could work."

"How many people have snuck into the castle and things worked out?" Luxord sighed and looked up, "I don't want to rain on your parade but I don't know anyone."

"Yes, but, how many of them were Nobodies?" Xigbar retorted.

Luxord rubbed his forehead, "It may not matter. Xemnas is still Xemnas. And he's still powerful. We can't deny that there are powerful Nobodies still there."

Axel laughed, "Oh yeah, old Scientific four-eyes himself, Vexen. I call dibs on him."

Roxas couldn't help a chuckle. Zexion smirked as well, "But don't forget, Luxord, we have an ally on the inside."

"A double-agent?" Demyx questioned.

Zexion nodded, "Lexeaus is on the inside. He'll be playing his role well."

Axel laughed again, "What role? He's always silent! He's probably said, what, two to five words to the whole group over there!"

This time, Zexion rolled his eyes in annoyance, "Quit the comedy relief act Axel. We all knew you had your eyes on her at one time yourself. You're just as anxious as Demyx."

Axel grew silent, so Zexion continued, "But we do have an advantage. We have our Nobodies that we control. No matter what, Xemnas cannot take our control over them out from under our noses."

Demyx nodded, "So..? The plan?"

The Cloaked Schemer looked towards the Nocturne, "I'll worry about the plan. You worry about your arm."

* * *

You were led down the castle hallways by the hand by Marluxia. Your clothes were ragged and your hair was damp from the change of temperature. You saw very few of the other members of the Organization. Larxene, the female of the group, whom you learned was beyond vicious, waved at you as Maluxia led you away and blew you a kiss. Her gesture wasn't anything pleasant. You looked around curious and now frightened.

Marluxia smiled at you, "Don't worry about her. She's the Savage Nymph for a reason. She'll make you believe things that aren't going to happen."

You looked back at Larxene as she winked at you and walked into her room. You turned back to Marluxia and nodded, "May I ask you something?"

"Yes, my flower." He answered as he opened a two large double doors. You had found the nicknames to be intolerable and annoying but had gotten used to it. The doors opened up to a large garden. However, unlike a garden, there were thorns everywhere and vicious plants as well. The plants seemed to notice the presence of the two of you and turned their heads towards you both.

You raised your eyebrows in slight shock at the plants. Marluxia chuckled, "Don't mind them. They won't bite you. Now, your question, flower?"

You walked beside him and eyed the plants, "I was wondering why you are being so hospitable."

Marluxia waved at his plants and they subsided, ignoring you and snapped at some insects running around. He took your hand and kissed it, "I may be your enemy, (your name), but that doesn't mean you have to suffer. I can still give you some sort of comfort."

You nodded, "That's kind of you, however," You backed away from him a little, "I've seen how your teammates play and I've seen how they treat others. What should make me believe that you aren't one of the cunning ones?"

He nodded and didn't retaliate, "You have the right to think that, but I promise you your life and that you won't be harmed by any of the other members. I will take care of you, my young rose."

One of the plants closer, a Venus Flytrap, to you snapped at your hand. You pulled it back and swatted at it instinctively. The plant growled and reached out for your leg. You yelped at the attempt and drew an arrow, your bow appearing in your other hand. As you knocked the arrow, a large staff struck the ground between you and the flytrap. Both you and the plant looked up. The staff, in reality, was a large scythe, and it belonged to Marluxia. He removed the scythe from the small space between you and pointed the blade towards the plant.

"Behave. She's with me. There's no need to be defensive or aggressive towards her. I'll let her know what to do and what not to." The plant nodded and turned back to it's statue stance and waited for it's next victim to eat. Marluxia swung the blade out to the garden, "That goes for all of you."

The plants subsided and went back to their normal doings. He turned back to you and smiled, "I'll have to make this place more pleasant for you, darling. Give me a moment and then I can answer your questions and inform you about my plants."

He winked and turned back to the room. He held his hands out and light erupted around him. Warm, soft, green grass circled around him and filled the room, much like in the cell that you were previously in. Rose petals and golden pollen floated in the air. The plants turned a brighter green and seemed more lively. The thorns that covered the walls turned quickly into thick green vines, with tiny roses and almost invisible thorns. The white walls became visible and the room itself brightened.

"Wow…" You whistled.

He smiled and waved towards the room, "Please, my dear lady flower, let me show you your new room."

* * *

Demyx jumped gracefully from building to building in The World That Never Was. He scaled one of the tallest buildings and faced the castle. The entry was blocked and gone. As was thought. It was as Zexion had said, it was going to be no easy task getting inside. He sighed and squatted down, examining the area. For once it wasn't filled with heartless. That in its self wasn't a good sign. Yes it would be easier getting to the castle but it also meant that something was up. It could be a trap easily. He figured one of the remaining members were down there, just waiting for someone to try and enter. Either that or it was a large section of the Nobody Army that Xemnas had at hand.

"Are you going to just sit here or are you going to do something? You do realize that she's in there."

Demyx didn't have to look up to see that the speaker was Axel. He simply nodded, "But we have to stick to the plan."

Axel crossed his arms over his chest, "That's true, but I don't like sitting around and waiting. I prefer to have my own way with things. Following my own heart for to say."

They both smirked. Demyx stood and looked up at his friend, "Let's take things into our own hands than."

Axel nodded and chuckled, turning his head to the Nocturne, "What about big brother? Aren't you going to tell him?"

Demyx grew silent and let out a low growl. Axel raised his eyebrows at him, "What?" He cocked one eyebrow, "Afraid big brother Luxord'll give you another spanking?"

Demyx turned to him, eyes darker than the depths of the sea, "Don't even joke about it. Luxord left me behind forever and for always. He wouldn't care, nor would he stick his neck out for me."

Axel smirked, "So, we're going than?"

Demyx nodded, "Yeah, we're going."

They ran down the streets in the shadows, like Ranger's of old and just as threatening. Both fire and water flickered, intertwining with each other. They mattered not what the plan was, they had their own agenda. They were going to save her, no matter what.

As they neared the castle they hid in the shadows behind the buildings across from it. Demyx taking the right building and Axel the left. There was no threats in sight, meaning that the bigger threat was in the castle. Both of them knew that. The Nocturne nodded towards the Pyro and then released a series of Water Clones. They danced and rocked towards the castle. Almost immediately, they were destroyed. Several Dusks jumped out.

Demyx nodded towards Axel and they both summoned their Nobodies. Both Assassin and Clones appeared in the thousands and attacked. Dusks appeared in equal numbers. The battle began.

Up, high above the battle, Luxord stood with Zexion. He sighed, "Please tell me you have a Plan B."

The smaller of the two nodded, "Don't worry. We're following their plan as best as possible."

Luxord raised an eyebrow, "We're following them?"

Zexion nodded, "They're not dumb. They're both pretty smart, actually and are able to hold their own. We only need to aid them when they need it."

He opened the Lexicon, "And I do believe their going to need it soon, if they want to enter the castle. Xemnas's forces are much bigger than their own." He disappeared, leaping down the buildings.

Luxord sighed, watching as Demyx ran out into battle, "My younger brother…what are you thinking?"

* * *

You laid down in the large bed that was given to you by Marluxia. A sigh escaped your lips and you looked around. The plants were doing their own thing, snapping at the few bugs around, or small animals you had found out. The larger plants ate small animals such as rats, birds, big spiders, etc.

The doors were thrown open and Marluxia stormed in. You sat up immediately and backed towards the back of the bed. The plants around him turned dark, thorny, and vicious. He stomped towards you and laid on the bed, putting his head on your lap.

Hesitantly, and a bit instinctively, you ran your fingers through his hair. Trying to comfort him, you also rubbed his back, "Something-

"The matter?" He finished the sentence for you. He sat up and looked into your eyes, "Your boyfriends here. He brought his friends as well."

You went wide eyed, "Demyx…? He's…alive?"

Marluxia nodded, "Of course he is. You honestly believed Vexen and Larxene? Didn't he tell you anything about them?"

You looked down and closed your eyes. Of course Demyx had told you and in the heart that you had given up, you knew he wasn't dead. You didn't want to believe that he was dead.

"So, it was a lie? Demyx was never dead."

He nodded, not looking up at you, "Yes, and he's here to rescue you."

A tear slid down your cheek, "He's alive." You smiled, "He's really alive."

Marluxia shot up and grabbed your throat, "What's with the pathetic tears?"

You gasped and grabbed onto his hands, "Marluxia…" You gasped for air wide eyed.

He snarled, "I've showed you great hospitality! I saved you from that freezing cage you called a room! I brighten every spot of this castle for you! I even brought you top of the line food!"

You dug your nails into his skin, "I…" You gagged.

He threw you to the ground, "Pathetic and traitorous Delilah!"

You hit the ground in shock and pain. The room turned dark and the green turned to a dark green and black, thorns replacing the beautiful roses. The plants snapped at you and hissed. You stood, wobbling on your legs, and stared at him, "I can't help that I care for him. He took care of me! I-"

A large plant vine shot out from the ground and wrapped itself around one of your arms. It constricted your wrists and tightly pulled your arm down. A second wrapped around your right wrist and did the same. You struggled and pulled against the vines in vain. Your legs were tied up as well by other vines that were attached to some of the Venus flytraps. They snapped at your ankles and scratched at you with their thorns. You hissed at the pain and struggled against the vines.

Marluxia grabbed onto your cheeks and made you face him, "Now, you will never leave."

You jerked your head out of his grip and bit his hand. He yelped and pulled back. You spit on his face, "Think again, flower boy."

You swung one of the vines into the mouth of the opposite Venus Flytrap. The trap closed on it's brother. The other plant let out an odd, gurgled sound squawk of pain and released your right foot. With that foot you stamped on the flytrap with it's mouth full. It released the vine and also squawked in pain. Now all that was left were your arms. Before you could summon any of your arrows, you felt something cold run against neck.

"You've made a fatal mistake, my dear."

You turned, cautiously and slowly, to face Marluxia. He had his scythe on your neck, eyes glowing as red as his roses. He snarled, "You will do as I say." He wrapped the blade around the back of your neck and pulled you face to face with him. You swallowed and hissed.

He smiled, dark and disgustingly sweetly at the same time, "You will obey me or your love will suffer a dark, slow, and painful death. Twisted and tormenting. You wouldn't want that, now would you?"

You shook your head, "Leave him be. I'll do what you want."

He chuckled and shook his head, "Oh, you'll fight me, trust me."

He threw his head at the vines and they untangled themselves from you. He moved to the side and used his scythe to throw you onto the bed, cutting the back of your neck thinly. You yelped and turned to face him, again attempting to summon your bow and arrows. However, he was already on you. He pinned you down, leaving you your hands, but your lower half completely unavailable to you. You scratched at him, only to receive a slice on your hand from his scythe.

He smiled, intoxicatingly startling, and pointed the tip at your throat, "I told you, you would fight."

He slipped the tip of the blade into you shirt and slid it down your shirt, slicing it open. You struggled as your bra and bare skin was revealed to him. You bucked, trying to get him off, not worried about getting stabbed.

He laughed loudly, throwing his head back, "As I said," he leaned down and nibbled at your ear and whispered, "You will struggle."

* * *

Demyx charged the few Dusk in his way and used his powers of water to easily clear the hallway. Axel was behind him, turning the water into unbearable steam. The few Nobodies in the area would be no match. He called for his lovers name and searched every room available.

As they neared the rooms of the members, a burst of wind turned his water into a cyclone. Demyx and Axel stopped in their tracks. Eight powerful lances danced in the wind as a figure in black stood in the center of the cyclone. Demyx tried crushing the figure in the water but the wind was too strong. The figure turned the cyclone into a giant black tornado. Soon, the winds subsided and the Nobody stood holding a few of the lances with an evil grin on his face.

Axel growled, "Xaldin."

Demyx nodded, "The Whirlwind Lancer."

Xaldin smirked, "Glad that I'm still remembered."

Axel nodded, "Hard to forget an old partner in crime."

Xaldin waved one of the floating lances towards Axel, "Than you should remember that I don't let anyone get past me."

Axel grinned, bringing his chakrams into visability and whirling them around him, "Of course! It's your best feature!"

Xaldin threw two lances Axel's direction with high speed. Axel dodged them easily, as if it were something like a pillow was thrown his direction, and grinned, "Make this worth my while, Avatar!"

Xaldin hissed at the nickname and charged, "It will take your life away!"

The two battled, metal clashing and clanging against each other. Xaldin took three of his lances and stabbed at Axel. Axel deflected it with the chakrams and the two were at a battle of strength, trying to break one another. Axel turned to Demyx and grinned, "I've got this Demyx! You go find (your name)! I can handle this!" He threw Xaldin back and kicked out, making the other fall back to one of his knees. He turned to Demyx again, "Go! Get out of here!"

Demyx nodded and ran beyond the fight. He once again brought forth the mighty waves and rammed them against all of his foes. His legs were quivering from being used for such a long period of time and he thought he would drop at any moment if he didn't have the adrenaline that he had now. He raced forward, opening every door.

"She has to be here… She just has to be here." He whispered to himself, egging his own self on.

As he headed towards Marluxia's room a flash of lightning stopped him in his tracks. He slowed to a stop bringing his sitar forth. A portal of darkness formed in front of him and inside the lightning. Laughter came from the inside and she walked forth, arms crossed over her chest. She smiled at Demyx and waved her fingers.

"Hello, dear Demyx. How have you been?"

He scowled, "Larxene. It'll do me great pleasure to push you out of the way."

She wagged her finger at him, "Tut, tut, tut. Demyx, that's not like you at all. Why don't you 'run, run away' like you normally do?"

Water clones surrounded Demyx and he held his sitar closely, "Because I have purpose this time, Nymph."

She smiled, "A pathetic attempt Nocturne. Lightning will overtake your Water in a few moments short."

"But Time can easily overtake Lightning."

They both turned to face the Gambler of Fate. He stroked his goatee and pulled a deck out of his coat pocket. He pulled the four Ace's out and brought their four larger brothers forth behind him. Larxene snarled and Demyx gaped at him.

"I've got the Ace in the hole, dear Larxene. Let's see you fight me. T'would be more of a challenge, don't you agree?"

Larxene brought herself forward and raised an eyebrow intrigued, "Truth be told, Lux, I would like to take a gamble with you."

He smirked, "Than let the boy go and face me. A more admirable opponent."

Demyx looked into his brother's eyes. Luxord nodded at the younger and turned back to the Savage Nymph. Demyx, for the first time in many, long years, looked at his brother with gratitude. He ran forth, waving his sitar making the water clones disappear, and ran towards the next room.

A scream came from the room, making Demyx stop in his tracks. He turned to the door, "(YOUR NAME)!"

With a mighty wave, big enough to tip a ship, he forced the door open and drowned many of the plants from within. He ran forth, eyes widening at the scene. You were in your underwear only, bra missing however. Marluxia was on top of you. Demyx went red at first in embarrassment and then went into pure rage. He yelled and charged at Marluxia, another wave forming behind him and water clones splashing around everywhere.

Marluxia stood from where he was, leaving you cold, hurt, and terrified. He picked the scythe up and smirked heading towards your young love. You sat up and covered yourself immediately as the battle had begun. Scythe and water clones met each other each second. You knew Demyx wasn't a fighter and that there wasn't anyway he was going to be able to hold on for much longer. You begin to reach for your clothing.

Demyx's clones were continuing to be wiped out. He shook with rage at the thought of losing. He would not lose, for your sake and to punish Marluxia for the unforgivable thing he had done. As the last of the clones fell, Demyx pulled his sitar into a sword like stance. His clones were not going to be able to do the job. Marluxia ran for him, a black wave surrounding his scythe. Demyx fought back using his sitar, it's glossy wood being shredded off by the scythe. He used his strength to swing the giant instrument towards the scythe. Both weapons went flying through their hands. Demyx, amazed by his own strength, watched them fall away from them. When he turned back he met a fist. He went flying and Marluxia smirked, continuing to make his way towards the fallen Nocturne.

Demyx jumped to his feet and made two fists. He was shaking, unsure if it was of rage or of fear. Marluxia landed another punch on his face and Demyx fell against the wall. Before he could pick himself up, the Assassin picked him up by the throat and pushed him against the wall.

"Now, you die, you pest." The Graceful Assassin held his free hand up and the scythe floated towards him, petals following after. He put the blade on the Nocturne's throat, "Remember, the only way to kill a Nobody is by the Key or by another Nobody."

He grinned and put his face on the end of the blade closest to him, "I will take great pleasure in seeing you fade to the dark abyss."

Before the scythe could take the boys head off and arrow shot through the chest of the Assassin. Marluxia gasped and dropped the scythe, turning around. Demyx stared in fear and amazement. You knelt on the bed on one knee, only in your bra and underwear, bow in hand and another arrow knocked. Your eyes were dark and you released the second arrow. It pierced a second hole in Marluxia's chest. He gasped in pain and stared at you, the light of the arrows making a shadow behind him.

You smirked, "It's as you said, Marluxia." You readied another arrow, "The only way to kill a Nobody is by the Key," You pulled the bow string back, "or by another Nobody." The arrow was released. Marluxia's eyes went wide as the arrow struck dead in between his eyes. He fell to the ground, the darkness surrounding him. As this happened, the vines and plants burnt in a black and purple flame. Their screams echoed from the room and soon, there was nothing but the bed, your clothes, and the two of you left.

You sighed and fell down on the side of your legs, gasping. The adrenaline that was pulsing through you was incredible. Demyx slid down the wall, gasping for breath as well. He smiled at you and you smiled back. Together you would be free. Fear then touched your soul as a large red pulsating blade made it's way towards Demyx.

You pointed towards him, "DEMYX! LOOK OUT!"

As Demyx turned, Xemnas, mortally wounded and fading, raised his blade high above Demyx's head. Demyx couldn't move, cornered and you yourself were weak and trying to make your way towards him.

"NOOO!"

The voice that came out was yours and male. You looked up and saw Luxord running towards the Superior of the In Between. He jumped n the way of the blade, letting it slide down his body, almost cutting him in half. You stared wide eyed as well as Demyx.

Xemnas snarled and faded away, his yell echoing through the castle. You grabbed your clothes and sloppily put them on. You were sprinting and limping towards Demyx. He stared at his brother. You wrapped your arms around him.

Demyx continued to stare, "L-Luxord..?"

He removed himself from you as the other began to fade. He kneeled beside his brother, "Luxord? You're… You're alright, right?"

Luxord looked up at his brother in pain, barely able to bring a smile to his face, "It's the first time you've said my name, with such sweetness."

Tears began to escape both of their eyes. You sat in the background, unable to bring yourself closer. Demyx took his brothers hand, "Dulor… Please…"

Luxord gasped as the darkness began to surround him, "I'll give mom and dad your best regards. I love you… Myde…My little brother."

His hand fell. Demyx stared at his brother, his bottom lip quivering, "Dulor…? Luxord…? Big brother…? Big brother, answer me. Please." The tears were flowing freely, "Please, don't die. Don't go." Luxord began to disappear, "Don't leave me alone. Please, Dulor!"

You touched his shoulder and he looked at you and then threw his arms around you, "He's at peace, Demyx. He knows you love him and that things will be peaceful from now on. He knows that you're safe."

You hugged him and let him cry, "He loves you. I love you. And now, we're all safe."

**~END~**

**STAY TUNED FOR THE EPILOGUE!**


	19. Epilogue

**~Epilogue~**

FIVE YEARS LATER

"Daddy! Daddy!"

Demyx looked up from his newspaper and smiled. Darien, his youngest son ran towards him, hands cupped holding some sort of creature in his hands. The father sighed to himself, keeping the smile on. Of course, the child would want to keep the animal. He was hoping it wouldn't end like last time, that of tears and frustration.

Darien stopped right in front of him, bouncing, but not to hard as not to hurt his captured hoped-to-be pet. His aqua eyes gleamed as he looked into his father's eyes, "Can I keep him, daddy? Can I? Can I? Please?"

Demyx chuckled and set the paper down on the picnic table. They weren't even in the park for five minutes and his littlest one was already ready to claim something. His mother almost feared it was some sort of Kleptomania, but Demyx quickly assured her that it was all in good fun and that the little one just wanted a fun little animal to play with. Both parents had been discussing getting a pet, a fight between a rabbit and a dog, indeed.

"What do you have _this time_, Darien?" Demyx leaned over his sons cupped hands.

Darien whispered, "Promise not to scare him?"

Again, chuckling, "I promise."

The child opened his hands to show a pretty, blue butterfly. It was sitting on his curled palms, opening its wings, open, close, open, close.

Demyx smiled at the creature. It was, in fact, a very beautiful butterfly, something worth wanting to keep.

"It'll match your big, blue, guitar, daddy."

Demyx gave Darien a sympathetic and sighed, making the little one lose his smile. A few tears were being brought to his eyes, "I can't keep it..? Please? Pretty please?"

Not wanting to cause a ruckus, or to catch the attention of Jayson, his elder son, and his wife, Demyx picked Darien up and set him on his lap.

"Now, Darien, I know that you want a pet really badly, but, don't you think the butterfly would be sad?"

Darien looked up at his father confused, "Why would the butterfly be sad? Our house is pretty."

"Yes, its true. Our house is pretty, but the butterfly won't be free at our house."

"Free?"

Demyx nodded, "Mhm. Freedom is the greatest thing underestimated, Darien. And, I know that you really want to keep this butterfly, but look around you." The boy looked around, following his fathers gaze and hand, "This is the butterfly's house. He's happy here." Demyx turned back to look his son in the eyes, "Wouldn't you be sad to if someone took you from your home? From me, mommy, and Jay?"

Darien nodded, "Uh huh.."

"So would the butterfly." Demyx put his son back on the ground, making the little boy face him, "So, what should you do."

Darien looked at the butterfly, "I should let him go."

Demyx ruffled the boys hair, "Good idea, son."

Darien turned and ran towards a large bed of flowers of all different colors. As the little boy kneeled down to release the butterfly, Demyx stood up to look around for the other two. Jayson was hanging from the monkey bars, while his wife held onto him. She turned and smiled at him. He smiled back.

This was freedom. This was home.

**END**


End file.
